


oh heave away, you rolling king

by LadyofBoneandIvory



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - East of the Sun and West of the Moon Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Curse Breaking, Devoted Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Elements, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Ireland, Marriage Contracts, Prince Ben Solo, Rey & Rose Tico Are Best Friends, Selkie Ben Solo, Selkies, Shapeshifting, Size Kink, Slow Burn Rey/Kylo Ren, Soft Ben Solo, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Unseelie Court, oh no he's hot and needy, whoops rey accidentally entered a marriage contract with a fairy tale creature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:14:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 80,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23613598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyofBoneandIvory/pseuds/LadyofBoneandIvory
Summary: Upon graduating from college, Rey postpones her work plans to accompany her best friend Rose to the beautiful Irish island of Inishmore. When she stumbles across a seriously injured man bleeding out on its rocky shores, Rey never would have thought that her decision to tend to his wound would grant her the unshakeable devotion of a lonely selkie named Ben.Rey already knows about the inevitably tragic consequences of becoming the lover to this creature who shifts between the form of a seal and of a human. But she can’t bring herself to leave him behind.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Rey & Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 468
Kudos: 753





	1. St. Drogo

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> This Easter, I bring you a semi-retelling of the selkie myth. It's been one of my favorite folktales since I was a teenager and I think it's a damn shame that selkies in general are used so infrequently in popular culture. 
> 
> The title comes from a sea shanty called "South Australia." 
> 
> Did I read several academic articles to make sure that seal!Ben acts like a seal and not like a dog? Am I taking several creative liberties anyway? Maybe.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“Rey!” Rose burst in through the door, her hair slicked down from the heavy rainstorm outside.

“Yes?” Rey sat at their beat up foldable card table with her cup of black tea and a book. She had just poured in bit of milk from the mini-fridge to cool the scalding hot beverage and took an experimental sip to check for temperature. _Perfect._

“You’ll never believe it. Guess what old Klaud O'Sullivan saw during his morning bike ride on the coastal road near Kilmurvey Beach.”

“Late pups at the colony?!”

“No. Even better,” Rose shrugged out of her lime green rain jacket and inner coat. She hung them from the hook on the back of the door to their room.

Rey rested her chin in her hand. “What’s _better_ than grey seal pups?” 

“Two words: red balloon.”

“No,” Rey gasped. “ _Impossible_.”

Rose waggled her eyebrows. “A _Cystophora cristata_ hunk is in the neighborhood.”

“Really?!”

“Yep. Klaud said it was the largest male hooded seal he’s ever seen, bigger than the ones he saw when he was a fisherman on the open sea.”

“No way! Inishmore isn’t even in their normal range, is it?”

“How should I know? My knowledge ends at the Latin name. You’re the pinniped expert!” Rose grimaced as she kicked off her leather work boots and peeled off her damp woolen socks.

Rey squealed into the china blue teacup in her hands. As embarrassing as it was to admit, it was an open secret between them that Rey spent most of her spare time observing and fangirling over the island’s thriving grey seal colony. Behind manatees, seals were Rey’s favorite animals since childhood. They looked like the dogs of the sea with their big expressive eyes, intelligent brains, squat bodies, and squishy faces. She certainly had inundated Rose with enough seal facts over the years to the point where it became a running joke between the two.

If you were to ask studious sophomore Rey Johnson three years ago what she’d be doing after her last year of college, she wouldn’t have told you that she would be spending the subsequent June through January after graduation stranded on the continually wet and rainy island of Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in Ireland. She’d agreed to work under the table as a maid at the Cilronan Hostel in exchange for a room, meals, and a meager stipend for the duration of the stay. 

Why did Rey do such a crazy thing? She wasn’t quite sure, to be honest. After all, she was a mechanical engineering major with a high GPA and strong references. She spent every single summer of her college career at the same firm as a well-liked intern. Rey _had_ secured a job with them back in the US. It wasn’t like she was worried about her future prospects. Yet, Rey still told them she wished to start early next year, a move they were surprisingly okay with.

 _You’re not ready to start adulting, are you?_ Rey’s traitorous brain whispered. She pushed the thought into her mental trash bin. 

Rey’s decision had more to do, she reasoned, with Rose’s job. Her long term roommate Rose, despite her initial promise as a fantastic fellow mechanical engineer, switched to follow her passions as a classical archaeology major halfway into her first year. Despite her academic focus being primarily on Iron Age Greece, Rose had deep enthusiasm for prehistoric Ireland. As a result, she scored her dream but financially unsustainable temp job: a postgrad internship at Dún Aonghasa, the most famous prehistoric fort on the island. She helped out a Trinity College professor on a dig there this summer, and now she was working front desk offseason while preparing a research article on a bronze object they had found at the fort to submit to a journal. “Thank goodness for my research grants,” Rose grumbled to Rey when she saw how much the gig paid. Rey still marveled at how overqualified archaeologists were for the pay scale they received. Rose the polyglot could read and write in English, Vietnamese, Latin, Greek, French, Gaelic, and Castilian Spanish. Rey knew, well, English.

In Rey’s mind, the real question was: Why _not_ accompany your bosom buddy to the mysterious and melancholy lands of Ireland? Rey’s decision to take on an informal gig at the hostel cut down on living costs for both of them to fulfill some of their broke girl fantasies.

“So. Do you want to go see if we can scout out Mr. Balloon Nose together tomorrow morning before my shift starts?” Rose, now only in her underwear, threw a beautifully knitted Aran sweater over herself, grabbed two Jaffa Cakes from their sacred snack drawer, and pulled up the other chair to sit across from Rey and their space heater at the table. She stretched her toes in front of it and sighed.

“I was thinking of going today before sundown.”

Rose made a face. “The forecast predicts heavy rain until two in the morning. And it’s really, really fucking cold out there.”

“I know, but…Mr. Balloon Nose might not be there tomorrow morning. Heck, he might not be there tonight. Sunset is at…19:32? It’s, what, a three mile bike ride over there? That’s easy. I’ll leave in a bit and be there and back within an hour and a half.”

“Aaalllllright,” Rose said over a mouthful of snack food.

“Do you want some tea?” 

“Yes, please.”

Rey went to their kitchenette and poured hot water from their steaming kettle into Rose’s designated mug with "Archaeologists Don't Dig Up Dinosaurs" emblazoned in green text against a white background on the front. “Green or Earl Grey?”

“Earl Grey,” Rey plopped the right satchel in the mug.

“What have you been doing since this morning?”

Now that the summer crowd was gone, Rey had little to do besides general upkeep and laundry at the hostel. She was usually done in three or four hours. “Nothing, really. Reading mostly.”

“ _This?”_

Rose turned over the book to read the blurb on the back.

“Yeah…only thing on the book exchange shelf that interested me.”

“Still looking for your Beast to come and sweep you off your feet?” Rose launched a sneak attack behind Rey and tickled her sides.

With a shriek of laughter, Rey crumpled to the floor and rolled up into a fetal position with her hands protectively wrapped around her middle to fruitlessly ward off future attacks as Rose kept prodding her. “How old do you think I am?! Of course not, but the fantasy’s pretty fun, isn’t it?” 

“I think one of us has been reading too many YA fairytale retellings,” Rose laughed. “If enchantments and fairies existed, I’d _plate_ my house in iron and never leave it. Steal my firstborn and replace it with a goblin child? Misspeak with a fairy and get turned into a rabbit? _No thanks._ Their rules are completely messed up _._ ” Rose ceased her tickle attack and grabbed her mug from the counter, removing the tea bag to prevent further steeping.

“Well _I_ think it would be rather romantic. Imagine outwitting a Leanan sídhe and having a fairy lover who enables you to write amazing poetry.”

“And live only five years more? Even if fae understood humans, they wouldn’t run on our morality. Again, _no thank you._ I enjoy being mortal and human, _”_ Rose shuddered.

“Fair enough.” Rey agreed with Rose but enjoyed playing devil’s advocate with her. Rey stood and went towards the window, drew back the curtain, and peered out. The rain was ebbing just the tiniest bit. _I bet this’ll be my only chance to get out today._ Rey moved towards their closet and began putting on her outerwear.

“You leaving so soon?”

“Yup, the rain’s letting up a bit.”

“You’ll let me know when you get to the beach? Your phone’s charged?”

“Of course, worrywart.” Rey smiled.

“Not a worrywart, just a cautious old lady on the inside.” Rose corrected. She dipped her Jaffa Cake into her tea.

“I know.”

Rey finished lacing up her boots and wound her favorite woolen scarf around her neck.

“How do I look? Ready to meet the new seal?”

Rose swallowed, then spoke. “I guess?”

“See you in a bit.”

“See you!”

***

Despite having resided on Inishmore for four months now, Rey kept underestimating how _nasty_ the island’s showers were to ride a bike in. Wind whipped about, pulling pieces of her hair out from under her helmet. The cool blustery air slipped up under her scarf. In pleasant weather, this was her favorite road to travel on. She often stopped to admire the picturesque scenery of lush green fields on one side and dark sea on the other when the sun was out. Now, she focused ahead to get to the lookout point where the grey seals of the colony beached themselves.

“Okay,” Rey said to herself, trying to district her mind away from the water leaching into her improperly tucked socks, “Remember, you dumbass: if you can’t cover the seal with your thumb, you’re too close.” Not that she would try to get closer: she’d read repeatedly that the hooded seal was an aggressive, solitary, and generally angry seal species in her many late night internet searches.

When she arrived at the lookout point, Rey was half-blind by the amount of hair that the rain plastered on her face. She stopped right beside the low fence and straddled her bicycle. The lookout point overlooked a large pebbly beach that formed a small bay, rocky outcrops surrounding it, and the stormy blue-grey sea with its foamy white wave caps.

Rey pulled off her helmet, hopped off her bike, and put down the kickstand. As expected, the other seals were out to sea while the storm passed. Shielding her eyes, she scanned the view for signs of life on the empty beach. After about ten minutes of trying to differentiate bobbing clumps of kelp and waves from animals in the water, Rey gave up. She sighed as she put her helmet back on. _Maybe Rose still wants to look for him in the morning_ _and we can try again._

She mounted her bike and was about to push off when Rey heard the characteristic loud nasal snort behind her. She turned the bike around and peered through the rainy haze to where the beach met the water.

There he was, crawling out the water on his short front flippers like a determined caterpillar, about sixty yards away from where Rey stood. Rey suppressed a shriek of excited laughter. The hooded seal was easy to differentiate from the other seals who usually resided on Inishmore. He was a thick boy with a black furred mask around his mouth and eyes. Even in the late afternoon sun and misty rain, his pelt was a beautiful dark silver with black dapples. And, true to their name, the seal’s deflated elastic nasal cavity, or “hood” gave it a larger and broader snout than most seals.

She dismounted as quietly as she could, put down the kickstand, and went back to the low fence to watch the new arrival. Rey marveled at his length of probably somewhere around nine feet long (or a bit more than two and a half meters) and a corresponding weight of _easily_ 850 pounds (approximately 61 stone).

The seal found a wide, flat rock to rest upon and crawled up on it. He rested his head on the stone and closed his eyes, seemingly oblivious to the weather and rest of the world. Rey stifled giggles as the seal took a series of deep breaths that partially inflated his hood. _Just_ such _a dorky looking animal._ She adored this seal already and almost didn’t mind standing here in the rain to watch him.

And then her phone rang. Because of her ability to sleep like a goddamn rock, Rey had a particularly loud and obnoxious ringtone that warbled and screeched to make sure she didn’t miss a call from Mas McKinley, her boss and the woman who ran the hostel. She grabbed her phone from her inner jacket pocket, checked the ID, and answered.

Rey lowered her voice. “Hey Rose! I’m sorry I forgot to call you.”

“It’s okay! Just checking in. Did you find him?”

“He pulled up as soon as I was about to leave! I’m going to watch him for a couple more minutes and then head back.”

“Got it. See you in a bit.”

“Bye.”

The seal had heard the ringtone. His head was elevated and he swiveled it around, trying to locate the source of the noise. Rey swore under her breath, a little upset as a still newbie wildlife watcher to have alerted him to her presence. _Is he stressed out? Well…probably not._ He had higher alert posture, but he didn’t inflate his hood or make any obvious antagonizing vocalizations. Instead, he looked alert but relaxed and made no sound. He yawned, grunted, and whipped his head around one more time. That’s when he saw Rey.

Rey didn’t want to anthropomorphize the seal’s subsequent behavior, but she had no other explanation for what happened next. He looked straight at her and began determinedly inching towards her. He wasn’t the fastest animal, but he was steadily closing in between them.

 _Is this what being charged down by a hooded seal bull on land looks like?_ Rey thought in a mildly amused panic. Fifty yards. Forty yards. He kept moving. Rey decided to scram. She put her helmet back on. Her trembling fingers fumbled with the chin strap buckle. Thirty yards. Twenty-five. Rey put up the kickstand and was about to take off when she heard a series of soft cheeping sounds, almost like that of a baby chick. _Pup sounds._ Rey paused, looked back and saw the seal was about fifteen yards away from her, looking up at her from the beach about eight feet below where she stood. _Is he trying to make eye contact with me?_

He bounced forward several more yards, let out an airy exhalation, and _rolled over onto his back._ Rey’s jaw dropped. With his giant spotted belly now exposed to Rey, he let out more pup vocalizations: cute, higher-pitched whines akin to those of the fuzzy yellow harp seal pups.

“Hey bud,” Rey shivered from the rain, but stayed put. This behavior was too interesting to ignore. “You’re a noisy fellow, aren’t you?”

The seal made a series of metallic “blaat” sounds and a low, pulsing bark, still not moving from his back.

“Shouldn’t you be out diving right now? The rain is pretty gross this evening. Why are you on this beach?”

He scratched his stomach with his little flippers but otherwise didn’t move.

“Did you catch a lot of fish today?”

No response. He laid there like he was dead.

“You can look at me, you silly goose.” Rey said a bit sarcastically, feeling dumb asking questions to an oversized seal belly.

He flipped back over as if he was instructed. He looked Rey again with as forlorn an expression as a seal could muster. He looked like he hadn’t slept for days with how notably red the sclera in his eyes were, despite the distance. Rey stood there in minor shock. _There’s no way he just understood me, right?_

“Bob your head twice if you understand me.”

The seal looked at her for thirty seconds as if translating what she just said then and bobbed his head twice, his meager neck disappearing into the rest of his body fat.

_I didn’t put anything in my tea, did I?_

“Make a noise if you like…squid.”

A pause, then a loud wheeze.

“Make a noise if you hate squid.”

Silence.

“Make a noise if you like eating…plastic bags.”

Silence again.

“Make a noise if you don’t like eating plastic bags.”

A pause, then a cough and retching noise.

 _Was he raised or rehabilitated by humans?_ Being this close, she could tell he didn’t have a tag on his flippers, but she supposed that a tracking implant was a possibility.

_Did I just find the most intelligent seal in the world?_

As if the seal detected the silence between them, the seal made a series of soft bubbling sounds in the back of his throat and lips. “Mmmmghhh…rrrrrghhhhffffh…tttfffffffppppbbbh…”

“Will you be sticking around these parts for a while?”

He cocked his head and appeared to think for a solid minute before repeating the loud wheezing sound.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

The seal bobbed his head once.

“Well, if you’re going to be staying a while, don’t I need a name to call you? I like watching the seal colony so I come by often.”

Another head bob.

Rey wracked her brain for simple masculine names.

“Alex?”

No response.

“George?”

Silence.

“Caleb?”

He blinked but made no sounds.

“Ben?”

The seal looked up at Rey and bobbed his head vigorously. He made a series of low trilling sounds, again partially inflating his hood.

“Alright! ‘Ben’ it is, then. Well, Ben, I got to go. I told Rose I’d be back already and I don’t have your blubber to keep me warm. What if I come back and visit you tomorrow morning just after sunrise? Would you like that?”

Ben the hooded seal bobbed his head again. 

Rey grinned. “See you tomorrow, then.”


	2. St. Eulalia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! 
> 
> Thank you for clicking! I aim to update this fic one to two times a week until it is completed. It’s a slow burn story, so I hope you enjoy the ride. No guarantees that the Gaelic in this chapter is 100% accurate. Can you tell I'm not Irish? :,) 
> 
> A fact about me: I believe that Klaud the yellow slug alien was the best part of TROS after The Kiss™. Will Klaud be in nearly every single one of my fics in some form or fashion? Maybe.
> 
> Content warning(?): A background character uses a contextually mildly offensive term in reference to a Scottish song in this chapter.
> 
> The performance of the song in this fic I imagine to be similar to this version sung by The Corries. [Feel free to put it on for some background music while you read.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSxrH8yYI_E)
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

When Rey got back to their room at the hostel, she stripped down and grabbed her shower towel from its hook on the wall to dry her hair. She liked how cozy and welcoming their room was, especially after a wet bike ride. The walls were comprised of dark wooden panels. The old growth hardwood floor was covered in multiple worn wool carpets with faded dyes. The air smelled of chamomile tea and dusty lavender.

Rose had changed into jeans and a burgundy cardigan. She was playing some sort of mobile puzzle game while snuggled under her plaid sleeping bag in the top bunk (her bunk). She held the phone in her hands with her arms extended above her face.

“How was it?” Rose asked, failing to tear her eyes away from her phone.

“I’ve never seen a seal so interested in a person.” 

_That_ caught Rose’s attention. “Interested in _you?_ ” Rose paused the level and turned onto her side, watching Rey as scrunched her hair with the towel while in her bra and period underwear and squatting in front of their space heater.

“I think so?”

“How?”

“My ringtone went off when you called me and the seal heard it. He came closer—not like ‘scary’ close, but like closer to the outlook—and made some…baffling noises.”

“Like…?”

“Pup noises.”

“Maybe he’s a juvenile?”

“No, he looks like a pretty mature bull.”

“Maybe he’s _flirting_ with you by making himself appear nonthreatening?”

Rey turned around to face Rose and scrunched her face in disgust.

“Did you see his…” Rose paused, double tapping the home button on her phone to switch to her internet browser window, “inflated 'elastic, bi-lobed _nasal cavity_ and _nasal septum'_?!” She read it off as if it was an innuendo and began cackling at her own bad joke.

“Gross.” Rey chucked her damp towel at Rose. Rose, still laughing, caught it, balled it up, and threw it back to Rey.

“So, what _did_ he look like?”

“Like a gigantic overstuffed burrito. But his coat…mmh.” Rey rifled through her drawer (the top one) in their dresser and pulled out a black tank top and fresh socks.

“Prettier than your beloved grey seals?” 

“Absolutely,” Rey pulled the tank top over her head. “Think of a Dalmatian, but with silver instead of white. The rest of him…eh, not so much. Had that funny almost proboscis-looking nose,” she chuckled. 

“I bet seals are fuzzy like pit bulls,” Rose sighed. “If given the chance, would you pet one?”

“Theoretically? In an instant. Where’s the question in that?” 

Rose paused, smiling over at Rey. “…I’m glad you’re having fun here, Rey. I thought you’d go stir-crazy on this island.”

Rey shrugged. “Both ferries are still running. I can go to Doolin or Rossaveel for a day or two if I need a change of scenery. But I’m doing a-okay. I enjoy how laidback everything is here. I’m glad you let me come with you,” she stopped her ramblings to tug on socks. “Oh, and back to seals: do you want to go with me to see him tomorrow morning? He’s expecting me, but I bet two people might be a pleasant surprise.”

“…. _Expecting you?”_

“Um…yeah…I didn’t know how to transition into it nicely. I…also think he might be able to understand English?”

“…Huh?” Rose said incredulously. “What are you tripping on right now?”

“Nothing! Goodness, I don’t know why but he acted like he could.”

“How?”

Rey exhaled exasperatedly, realizing she had a little chance of making sense. “He nodded enthusiastically when I asked him if he was planning to stay near the island and if he wanted to be called ‘Ben’.”

Rose gave a short incredulous laugh. “So I suppose our ‘Mr. Balloon Nose’ should be referred to as ‘Ben’ from here on out?”

Rey smiled, knowing how ridiculous she sounded to her best friend. “I suppose so?”

“Well, my bet is that he knows that acting cute will get him some treats from the tourists. You better prove to me that ‘Ben’ actually knows his name then tomorrow morning. What time should I get up?”

“Hmmm, 5:45? I told him I’d be there right after sunrise.”

“Alright.” Rose rolled her eyes, but still set an alarm on her phone. “Reason for getting up? A meeting…with…Ben...the…Seal,” she dictated as she typed. “Done.”

“Mm.”

Rose wriggled down from the top bunk to grab her Aran sweater that was thrown over the back of one of the chairs. “In exchange for me going to meet your seal _way_ before I usually wake up, you _better_ accompany me to Klaud’s set tonight. He requests your presence at Bayview.”

 _Is it already Friday?!_ In truth, Rey lost track of time on this island. It felt like a Wednesday to her.

“You haven’t been to his show in _six weeks._ I keep going by myself,” Rose pouted. “Please? You can’t go on an evening run or bike ride for once with this weather.”

“I won’t be playing third wheel to you and Armie?” Despite his very English first name, Armitage Humphrey was an early thirty-something year old Dublin bloke with a boyish grin and matching ginger shocks of hair and beard. He was the bartender at Bayview, the restaurant Klaud performed at.

Rose blushed. “Hush, Rey. Nothing’s going on between us, as much as I’d like there to be. He’s just extremely kind and I think he’s super cute.”

Neither Rey nor Rose had much to go on in the realms of romance. Rose had one long-term boyfriend for six months during her junior year: Finn Trooper. An extremely friendly man, but a _horribly unromantic_ boyfriend. Rey had a few short flings under her belt, but a complete newbie in terms of temporally significant partners. She didn’t mind it too much. In fact, Rey greatly enjoyed being single, but it did get under her skin on rare occasions. Rey was nearly twenty-three now: some college friends were already posting their engagement rings on her social media feeds.

“But it’s so gross outside—”

“—Armie agreed to pick us up in his van.” When Armie wasn’t pouring Guinness for tourists, he gave van tours of the island during the summer.

“…Fine.”

***

True to their words, Armie picked Rey and Rose up in his tour advertisement-decorated white van at precisely 20:30. Klaud was waiting for them under a teal and navy polka dotted umbrella when they pulled up in front of the restaurant. Armie let them out and went to go park.

The Bayview Restaurant was one of the fancier joints on the island. The building itself was a whitewashed two-story building with the business’ name proudly displayed in wooden letters painted black above the front entrance. The food was excellent standard pub fare but with ridiculously expensive entrees that Rey and Rose couldn’t afford.

Klaud shielded the two from the rain under the umbrella and shuttled them inside before beginning his greetings. Inside, the restaurant was almost empty during the offseason, with only five older island residents sitting about nursing a drink or picking over cold fish and chips. Rey recognized all of their faces, having passed most of them during her day-to-day errands on the roads around the island or in the grocery store.

“Rose! A stór! How are ya?” Klaud, a man in his fifties with slightly yellowed and sun-damaged skin and a beer gut, gave Rose an enthusiastic side hug.

Rose, her cheeks pink, hugged Klaud back. “Hello Klaud! Long time no see.” Klaud was one of Rose’s first friends on the island. A fellow archaeology enthusiast, he was a well-respected island resident who volunteered a lot of his time to work on the fort dig over the summer.

Klaud burst into laughter, his belly jiggling. “A _very_ long time no see, mo mhuirnin!” Rose chatted with him for a few minutes every morning on her way to work.

Klaud turned his attention to Rey and gave her a gigantic welcoming smile. “Hello, mo chara Béarla ( _my English friend)_! I am glad to see you again.”

“Rey’s an expat,” Rose said, eyes twinkling. “She went to school with me in the US and will be settling down in Boston after we go back.”

Klaud’s bushy white eyebrows rose. “Och... tá brón orm ( _Oh, I’m sorry)_! Mo chara Meiriceánach ( _my American friend)_ , then? It has been a while since we last met, hasn’t it?”

“It has been, Klaud. Lovely to see you. I hope to be able to come to your shows more frequently,” Klaud said as he grasped her extended hand in a firm handshake.

Klaud ushered them to a table adjacent to the small corner stage. This performance space was lit only by low chandelier lighting and candles on the tables. They created a warm golden light that bounced off the white tablecloths and walls.

“Now, Rey," Klaud’s voice had a _beautiful_ lilt to it. “I’m not sure how much Rose has told ya, but off season is when I test out new bits and pieces for my show for next summer. I’m hoping that your fresh set of ears might help us old men out, eh?”

“I’ll…try my best!”

“You’re a good woman, Rey. See those two jokers over there? Those are my bandmates. Edward! Booly!” An extremely tall man with golden-brown hair and blue eyes and a short bald man with dark beady eyes looked over at Klaud from where they sat at the bar. “Get over here, lads. These ladies are our audience tonight.”

The two men strode over, politely introduced to themselves to Rey, and exchanged warm, familiar words with Rose. After introductions were over, the three men sat down on high stools on the stage and tuned their instruments. A wet Armie snuck in during their warm-up, quietly said hello to both women, and sat in the chair on the other side of Rose.

“Now,” Klaud began loudly in a less accented voice, as if he was already in the middle of a set for the summer crowd, “this next song that we’re gonna play for you comes from the Orkney Islands—”

“Why are ya playing a Jock song in the middle of your Irish set, mate?!”

Klaud half-jokingly, half-threateningly pointed his bow at the old man in the small crowd who just heckled him. “ _Dún é!_ Get your ass out of here if ya can’t stand it, my man. We’re all from the same stock. It’s an Irish song as much as anyone else’s.”

The man laughed at Klaud’s jesting outburst and fell silent.

Klaud put his shoulders back and begin his introduction again.

“This traditional folk ballad comes from the Orkney Islands. It’s about a selkie, a seal-man if you will. While he can amble around on land for a while as a human, once he wraps himself in his seal skin, he turns into a seal and swims out to sea. Just like that,” Klaud snapped his fingers. “While selfish fishermen steal the skins of the _lady_ selkies and force them to become their wives, the selkie _man_ comes and goes as he pleases. He seeks out the unhappy women who live on the shore and becomes their lover. Or he comes to the beck and call of a woman who has shed seven tears into the sea, depending on what interpretation you like best. The woman gets pregnant and the selkie leaves her, only to come collect his offspring and whisk them off to sea seven years later. He gives the woman a bag of gold in exchange, the disgrace. Personally, I’ve never understood why the woman lets him go in the first place fully well knowing that he can’t return to her for seven years. Couldn’t she hide the selkie’s skin as well as any man could?”

Klaud, realizing he’s gotten off script, plucked a couple of notes and tucked the fiddle under his chin.

“It's called ‘The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry.’ In the song, the selkie in question comes back to take his son away from his lover. During the visit, he tells her that her second husband will hunt and kill him and their son in their seal forms. And guess what? That’s what exactly happens. Sin é an saol, I guess. Well…please enjoy.”

Klaud’s smooth baritone voice combined with the powerful instruments quickly enchanted Rey. In her mind’s eye, the slow, haunting rendition of the song transported her onto a desolate, windy beach. She ran barefoot along the shore, desperately searching among the waves for someone. _Who?_ Rey had no idea.

_I am a man upon the land_

_I am a selkie in the sea_

_And when I'm far and far from land_

_My home it is in Sule Skerry..._

***

That night, she dreamt of green kelp, velvety silver fur, broad shoulders, and large, pale hands.


	3. St. Therese

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, 
> 
> Did I decide to post early because I suck at sticking to a prolonged publication schedule? _Yes_. This was originally the first half of a longer chapter, but I think it flows better as its own section. One more chapter dedicated to seal!Ben. The more exciting shenanigans begin in the next chapter, I promise.
> 
> See you in a bit,  
> Lady

Rey awoke when Rose threw her pillow at her at 5:45, yelling at Rey to shut off her “goddamn alarm!” A woman of integrity, Rose got up, stretched, brushed her teeth, dressed in her informal “archaeology” uniform with the wide-brimmed sun hat and full khakis, and prepped a sandwich for lunch before Rey even rolled out of bed.

“Come on, sleepyhead. ‘Ben’ awaits,” Rose said over a mouthful of protein bar. 

“I know, I know.”

Rey didn’t work on Saturdays. She dedicated every Saturday morning to her intense cardio routine. With only eleven miles of island to explore, she ran the same loop around the north side of the island followed by core exercises and stretching. She would then go back to the room to shower and eat a light lunch before using her Saturday afternoons for relaxation and seal watching. Today, she planned to accomplish her routine in the opposite order.

Rey put on one of her workout outfits and her favorite fleece jacket and threw her hair up into a low ponytail.

Rose and Rey set out and biked along the coastal road. The post-rainstorm sunrise brilliantly lit up the early morning sky with vibrant oranges, pinks and yellows. It was looking to be a clear, though rather chilly, day. Rey could count on one hand the number of times that a day here was rainless from sunrise to sundown.

When they got to the lookout point, Rey and Rose properly parked their bikes on the bike rack before heading over to the low fence that overlooked the bay area. Despite the weather, the bay was empty. _Perhaps all of the seals are still out to sea,_ Rey thought to herself.

“Well?”

“Give him a little while. He’s a seal, after all.”

They stood there quietly for about ten minutes, taking in the sound and smell of the ocean.

Rose exhaled and leaned against the iron fence. “You should try calling for him by his name.”

“Riiiight. And what’s that going to do?”

“No, _really_. Why not?”

“Rose…”

Rose grinned. “Are you glad we didn’t place bets on if he’d actually attend your ‘appointment’?”

“...Fine.” 

Rey gathered her courage and hoarsely screamed onto the beach. “Ben?! It’s Rey—the girl who stopped by last night to see you. I’m here!!”

An almost instant hoarse moan-bark. Rey directed her eye line to the beach. A little black face with a giant snout poked out over the rippling waves.

“Told you!!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…Rose, do you see him over there?”

Rey pointed towards where Ben was swimming towards the shore.

“Yep, I see him.”

“Hey, bud!” Rey yelled again.

Ben responded with a couple blaring “horks” as he reached the shore and crawled out.

Then he saw Rose standing beside Rey and froze, his eyes seemingly fixed on Rey’s companion.

“What’s he doing? Looks like you picked a…nervous seal to introduce me to?” Rose said, the curious tone evident in her voice. “Whoops, he’s turning around.”

Ben began flopping back towards the water.

“Ben! Come back!” Rey shouted.

Ben paused, his fore flippers in the briny water, and looked back in their general direction.

“Please?! Come back?!!” Rey waved her arms, hoping to catch his attention.

The seal seemed to hesitate, making no sound.

“Hello!” Rose joined in. “Come back over here, please?”

Ben looked into the waves, then back to the two strange humans standing at the lookout point, then back towards the sea.

“We just want to talk!” Rose followed up.

“Rose—take off your hat. Their eyesight is garbage on land…maybe the hat spooks him?”

Rose gave Rey an utterly bewildered expression, but removed her hat as requested. Small pieces of her hair stuck up at random angles.

“Ben! This is Rose! She’s my best friend! She wanted to meet you! I brought her here with me!”

After a solid three minutes of hesitating at the shoreline, Ben looked back and began determinedly inching towards Rose and Rey.

Rey felt a bubble of excitement burst in her chest. “ _Yay!_ Hi, buddy!”

Rose adopted Rey’s enthusiasm. “Go, Ben, go!”

As Ben eventually made his way over to them, their cheering grew louder. He’d switch between determined crawling on his belly and sliding where he could.

When he was eight yards away from them, he stopped, breathing heavily. It couldn’t be easy carrying around that much weight on a body built for the sea, not for the land.

“Oh my god, you’re completely right,” Rose chuckled. “He looks like an oversized burrito.”

“Sssssh! Remember…?”

“Oh right, right. I’m sorry, Ben.”

Ben gave a snort.

“He’s kind of cute though, in a pug sort of way.”

“Well, _I_ think you’re very handsome, Mr. Ben,” Rey retorted, albeit rather sarcastically.

Ben slow-blinked several times, and then inched closer to get a closer look at the girls. Or more specifically, Rey.

It was from this distance of now maybe three yards away that Rey first _really_ noticed the color of this seal’s eyes. The irises weren’t the almost black-brown that hooded seals had in the pictures she saw online. Instead, they were a warm shade of hazel. And yes, Ben _was_ making direct eye contact with relaxed body language, his head cocked to the side to look at her through one eye.

After prolonging silent eye contact with his eyeball for nearly a full minute, Rey was the first to look away. She was beginning to feel thoroughly unsettled by how not ‘hooded seal-like’ this animal acted.

_Is he sick…? It doesn’t seem like it._

Ben responded by fully inflating his black hood and deflating it loudly with a loud moan-growl, almost as if in irritation. When that didn’t elicit a response from Rey, he turned to the trick that worked last night. The seal made the same soft cheeping noise, his mouth slightly parted and his pink tongue partially poking out.

Rey couldn’t help but marvel at this weird trait from an adult bull. “Silly boy.”

Ben uttered a series of low trills in response to her comment.

“Rose. Watch this.” Rey cleared her throat. “Ben. Do you like…clams?"

After a couple of seconds, Ben bobbed his head and exhaled a loud puff of air.

“Do you like…soda cans?”

Silence. Ben yawned.

“Do you like…crabs?”

A pause, then Ben bobbed his head again and let out a “blaat.”

Rey looked at Rose. “ _See?_ ”

“Hmm…can I ask him a question? 

Rey looked at Ben. “Can Rose ask you a question for you to answer?”

The seal appeared to take a little while to ponder the question and then bobbed his head.

“Go ahead?”

“Okay,” Rose theatrically rubbed her chin while coming up with her question. “Ben,” she held up her hat for him to see, “did my hat scare you?”

Ben paused, then answered with a hoarse cry and head bob.

Rose's jaw dropped open. “ _Jesus_. I’m so sorry, Ben,” she cried, “I won’t wear it next time we meet! And Rey…you might be right.”

“I _told_ you! He understands English. I _swear_ I’m _not_ crazy.”

Rose smiled and looked back at Ben. He had scooted even closer and resumed his cock-eyed staring at Rey, this time with his other eyeball.

“You really like Rey, don’t you, Ben?” Rose asked, running her hands along the brim of her hat.

Ben bobbed his head four times.

“That _has_ to be a ‘yes’ too.”

Rey laughed, leaning forward on the fence. “I guess he does, then.”

Rose checked her watch. “Ah, shit. Rey, I need to get going. I promised Klaud I’d stop by his place to pick some books up before my shift. You good from here on out?”

“Yeah. I’m going to hang out for a little while longer here and then go on my run.”

“Awesome. See you this afternoon.”

“Love you!” Rey exclaimed.

“Love you too! Bye, Ben!” Rose responded.

Rey watched as Rose hopped on her bike and took off before turning her attention back to Ben.

When she looked back over the low fence, Ben had already flopped over onto his back and closed his eyes.

 _Aren’t these guys supposed to be aggressive and territorial?_ Rey knew better than to let her guard down around any wild animal, relaxed or no, but he seemed _so_ friendly and timid.

“Ben. Do you want me to hang out with you while you take a nap?”

Rey received a “harrumph” and low bleating-like sound in response.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ then.”

Rey hung out at the point without a stitch of human company for an hour and a half. She alternated between listening to folk songs while watching for the grey seals in the water and taking sneaky videos of Ben sleep-scratching his stomach. Now that he was so close, Rey noticed that he had little flecks of white fur on his hood and cheeks under his whiskers. _Too cute, even if it’s on such a funny-looking animal._

When the seal awoke with a growl and a nasal snort, Rey’s phone was on 30%. To her reluctance, she needed to leave before she had no music.

“Hey, buddy. I need to get my run in.”

Ben looked up to Rey and gave a short but loud howl-bark. Rey jumped a little in response—Ben was still a large predator after all.

“I’d like to hang out for longer too! But I get antsy if I don’t work out.”

He switched to helpless pup bellows. Rey’s heart squeezed.

“How about this: I’ll come back for my bike this evening around the same time we met yesterday. Just before sunset. We can have another chat then. Does that work?”

Ben paused in his pup noises to consider Rey with his strange hazel eyes before bobbing his head twice.

“Okay. We have a deal then?”

The seal trilled.

“See you later, Ben.”

***

When Rey came back that evening, Ben wasn’t waiting for her on the beach. The grey seal colony was there instead, catching the last rays of sun on the rocky outcroppings. Calling for Ben earned her nothing but mildly annoyed looks from scarred Bubba (the dominant grey seal bull) and from a few of his ladies.

Rey waited. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes. Forty-five minutes. No Ben.

At an hour, she gave up and walked back to her bike to ride home.

 _Where_ is _he?_


	4. St. Sebastian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! 
> 
> Happy National Garlic Day! Here is the next installment of the story. Do you all prefer shorter chapters and more frequent updates, or longer chapters with less frequent updates? Let me know. The length of this story will probably go a bit beyond the currently projected ten chapters as well. 
> 
> Enjoy,  
> Lady

When Rey got home, Rose was rage-watching an episode of _Ancient Aliens_ on her phone from underneath her sleeping bag.

“Rey! You wouldn’t—” She sat up as Rey closed the door, obviously about to launch into one of her informative and entertaining rants about how some alleged alien intervention or influence completely ignored archaeological finds for the past seventy years, trivialized the abilities of past populations, and were usually racist, when she saw Rey’s crestfallen face.

“Rey…?”

“Uh…don’t worry about it.”

“No,” Rey shut off her phone and looked at her friend. “What’s up?”

“Nah…”

“ _No. What’s up?”_

“…Ben wasn’t at the point when I went to get my bike. He promised that he’d meet me before sunset.” Rey tried to say it nonchalantly, but her body language betrayed her nerves.

“Oh, _Rey.”_ Rose hopped off the top bunk and came over to give Rey a hug despite her post-workout stench. “Even if Ben understands English, there’s like eighty reasons as to why he wasn’t able to meet you today. Come on, let’s brainstorm some of them. I’ll start: he got distracted by a giant swarm of jellyfish!”

“He was taken somewhere against his will.”

“He’s on another portion of the beach and fell asleep!”

“The grey seals chased him off. Bubba bit him.”

“He…found a female!”

“He’s sick and holed up somewhere.”

“ _Rey._ You just met this seal yesterday,” Rose pulled back and looked at her friend. “Why so worried?”

“Rose…it’s just _something_ in my gut is telling me that something bad happened to him.”

“He’s a _seal._ He’s not a cat. We are surrounded by water. There’s nothing we can do to track him down.”

“…You’re right.” Rey let out a slow breath and unzipped her fleece jacket. “I’ll head over early tomorrow morning before work and see if he’s at the point. No reason to worry right now.”

Rose’s eyes searched Rey’s face before resigning herself to a small smile. “Everything will work itself out.” Rose quickly changed the subject. “Well, today’s payday! So guess what _I_ bought to celebrate.”

“What?”

Rose made her way to their small cupboard pantry and pulled out a brown paper bag. She produced a long loaf of crusty brown bread, a sizeable assortment of cheeses, some rather shriveled off-season strawberries, and chocolate. “Cahills Whiskey Cheese, Mount Leinster Coolattin Cheddar, and a couple of others we haven’t tried yet. I got this one because I like the name: ‘St. Tola Ash Log.’ Why did they name a goat cheese after a patron saint of toothaches? I have no idea. I just hope it tastes good because this shit was _expensive_ ,” Rose picked up the bag of milk chocolate and flipped it to the back to read the nutrition label. “And I don’t think we’ve had this either?”

Rey’s stomach rumbled. “Oh my god, it looks amazing.”

Since Rose was the only one between the two of them who was making any substantial money, she _insisted_ on having a small splurge meal when she got her paycheck every two weeks. 

Rose beamed. “Picnic dinner and Uno after your shower?”

“Perfect.”

‘Picnic dinner’ was when they ate their evening meal on Rey’s bed quilt spread out on the floor. Neither were sure why Uno became their game of choice, because Rose beat Rey almost every single time. Nevertheless, they cheered whenever Rey managed to sneak in a single victory every forty minutes or so.

Their routine calmed Rey’s nerves somewhat, but her mind kept wandering to where her funny seal could be. After three victories for Rey and the total obliteration of the St. Tola Ash Log cheese, the two heard distant thunder.

Rey looked at her watch: 22:30. “Looks like the rain is coming back.”

Rose frowned. “When I checked the weather two hours ago, it didn’t call for a thunderstorm until Monday.”

Their window, which was covered by a sheer white curtain, flashed white with lightning. The wind picked up, whistling over their heads.

Rose pulled on her pajama pants with a contemplative face. “Looks like we are in for a _big_ storm.”

Rey’s pulse had quickened. She searched for a logical line of reasoning as to _why_ she was nervous about this particular storm _,_ but she couldn’t find one. With slightly shaky hands, she made herself a pot of green tea and settled down at their card table with her book.

A series of urgent knocks came at the door ten minutes later.

Rose got out of bed, stood on her toes to look through the peephole, and glanced over at Rey. “It’s Klaud. Can I let him in?”

“Sure.” _Why is this man at our door at 23:00?_

She opened the door and a rush of wind and rain came pouring in with their guest.

“I’m so sorry, ladies, my car broke down right outside the hostel. Would it be alright if I stay here and warm up for twenty minutes or so while I call around for a ride?” Klaud was soaked to the bone.

“Yes, I suppose so?” Rose looked to Rey for affirmation. Rey nodded.

“Why are you out so late?” Rose asked.

“Meeting,” Klaud removed his scarf and jacket. “There’s a set of twin seventeen year old boys who live on Inisheer. The pair decided to go joyriding in their father’s boat this afternoon. The older boy took their grandfather’s antique spear gun with them and had the very wise idea to shoot a seal about two kilometers off of Inishmore.” He went over to their space heater to warm his hands.

“ _No…_ ” The word involuntarily escaped from Rey’s lips.

“Little did they know that the seals in these waters around the island are _protected._ The grey seals here have been the subject of a twenty year GMIT—err, an Irish university's, study. The professor who runs it will be furious when she finds out. Just—thank you dear,” Klaud mopped his face with a clean dishrag Rose handed to him, “a mess. Possible legal ramifications. Thank goodness the younger twin was smart enough to tell his father before it was too late.”

“Do they know what kind of seal it was? Could it have been that hooded seal you saw yesterday?”

“I asked them what it looked like. They only said it was a big seal. Whether they aren’t telling or they didn’t get a good look, I’m not sure.” Klaud blew his nose into the dishrag. “A ‘big seal’ means just about any of them at this point in the year. We’re going to have to do a shoreline search of all three islands to try and see if we can find the body. If it was a tagged grey seal, we need to recover the tracker.”

Rey felt bile rise up in her throat. “Could the seal still be alive?”

Klaud shrugged. “I suppose it’s possible? We don’t have the resources to treat a grievously injured seal here though. Even if we managed to find the seal and catch it, a wildlife veterinarian wouldn’t be able to get out here until Tuesday. Why do you ask?”

“I…didn’t see the hooded seal at the lookout point this evening around 18:20. I saw the dominant grey seal bull though and about six of the female grey seals.”

Klaud’s busy eyebrows rose. “Thank you, Rey, that’s very helpful. I’ll let the committee know that.”

Rey meekly ducked her head, feeling like any more elaboration would sound like the foolish rambling of a twenty-two year old woman to an old man.

Rose made no attempt to expand on Rey's observation. “Would you like some tea, Klaud? Coffee?”

“Tea, please. Early Grey if you have any.”

Klaud and Rose nursed mugs of tea at the card table and had quiet conversation about nothing in particular while Rey folded her neglected basket of clean laundry and drank her tea on the floor next to their bunk bed. The wind kept whistling and the rain kept drumming on the tin roof above. Klaud made several phone calls and eventually got a hold of Booly, who agreed to come give him a lift back to his place.

When Booly arrived in his clunker Saab, Klaud put back on his damp jacket and scarf. “Thank you, ladies, for your unexpected hospitality. Please pardon my intrusion this evening, I will be sure to make it up to you. _Oíche mhaith._ ”

“Good night, Klaud.” Rey waved and Rose closed the door behind their visitor.

Rose turned and looked at Rey, who was still sitting on the wooden floor. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just…checking. Ready to get to bed?”

“Yeah.”

***

Rey managed to doze for thirty minutes in her bottom bunk before she was rudely awakened by the sound of a man’s voice saying something indecipherable over the sounds of the storm.

She turned over onto her opposite side, guessing in an exhausted, joking manner that the voice was either a drunk hostel guest coming home at a little past midnight from a local bar or her sleep paralysis demon. Then the voice started to sing.

That’s when she sat up. It was a halting and slightly unsteady baritone voice that sung the wordless melody, but it was eerily beautiful.

_Am I dreaming…?_

She listened to Rose’s steady, even breaths above her for several minutes before swinging her feet over the edge of her bunk. When her bare feet made contact with the ground, shimmery flecks of dusty silver light burst from her heels as if she had jumped on a pile of flour on the floor. Rey jerked her feet back in alarm, despite feeling nothing, as the glowing light particles spread, creating what could only be described as a path to the closed front door.

Rey stood and tiptoed over to the window, pulled back the curtain, and peeked out into the rainy countryside. The glowing path continued beyond the door and veered left until she could no longer see from the confines of the window.

_Is…this singing I hear and this path connected? Should I wake Rose…?_

She looked back at her roommate, who was bundled in her covers and peacefully snoozing away. Rose had trouble falling asleep at night. Rey knew she’d be plagued by guilt if she woke Rose now, especially if she was imagining all of this or, god forbid, sleepwalking.

 _Should I follow the lights…?_ Rey felt some jumbled mess of dread and glee deep in the pits of her soul. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room and making the path through the door shine a pale blue. Rey jumped at just how loud the subsequent thunder rumbled overhead.

Her mind screamed _no_ to her self-imposed question, but her body screamed _yes_.

_Okay. There’s the compromise. You get to follow the path so long as it’s kind of safe. If it tries to take you down a cliff, you turn back._

She unlocked the door and opened it. The rain was still coming down in torrential droves, but the path shown bright and steady in the gloom.

_Riding your bike in the middle of a thunderstorm? A stupid idea, Rey. An undeniably stupid, moronic idea._

The voice wavered in the melody.

_This is a dream. All a dream. Go back to bed._

The song ceased. Rey felt a thrill of alarm emanate through her body as she could audibly hear the owner of the voice let out a few shuddering breaths. The glowing light beneath her feet flickered.

 _Oh. OHHHHH NO. Keep singing, I’m coming._ As quietly as she could, Rey raced over to grab clean wool socks out of her laundry basket. She put on her entire rain day paraphernalia over her pajamas—her hiking rain jacket, lined rain pants, rain boots, and her bright banana yellow vinyl poncho.

 _If I die, the search team will be able to find me thanks to this thing,_ Rey thought as she pulled the poncho on.

With her keys and flashlight in hand, phone in her zipped up pocket, and her helmet on her head, Rey quietly opened their door and stepped out into the thunderstorm. Locking the door behind her, she hoped that Rose wouldn’t wake up until she got back.

She hesitated for a brief moment before grabbing her bike which leaned against the hostel right outside their door and jumping on.

_Keep singing._

The voice began again, this time not as a beautiful wordless melody, but as halting hums. The path of light before her flickered again.

_Don’t disappear on me now, dammit._

The lights took Rey to the Cill Einne Looped Walk, away from the huge cliffs and towards the flatter scenic views from the island into the desolate dark seas. She kept her sight on the silvery path, praying as the lightning periodically stretched its frightening fingers out across the midnight sky that no harm would come to her or to the stranger that she was so strangely determined to find. The uneven humming continued in her ears, weakening as she pedaled faster.

It was when she approached the tiny Church of Saint Bheanáin that she saw how the lit path veered past the 10th century mortared stone church’s ruins and disappeared into the high grass.

Rey threw her bike and helmet down next to the established road, gathered the ends of the poncho into her hands, and ran into the vegetation. The path was fading quickly now, the masculine humming growing faint against the rainfall. She fumbled in her rain jacket’s pockets for her small flashlight and clicked it on, wielding it like a weapon against the rain.

“Don’t you _dare_ give up on me!” Rey screamed in frustration as the path dimmed even further. She tripped over a hidden toppled gravestone in her haste, swore, and steadily got back onto her feet. Rey surged ahead until she got to the ancient agricultural stone fence that separated the grasses from the rocky shore. She clumsily bumbled over it and hopped onto the beach. The water was high and the waves violently slapped against the rocks.

The path was now a trickle of weak pale blue light. It cut through the middle of the beach between the grasses and the shore. Rey followed it in a jog, scanning the shoreline for signs of life. It quickly diffused into scattered light, now no longer a direct line for her to follow. She stopped and turned around, surveying her surroundings.

“Hello?! Answer me!” Her heart beat against her rib cage. She didn’t come all this way for a dead body. “Make a noise!”

Rey heard a low moan-bark—like a man imitating a seal. She pointed her flashlight in its direction. A jumbled house foundation and ruined wall of craggy limestone blocked the source of the noise from her sight. 

“Another sound, please!”

A whine—again as if an imitation. She broke into a sprint and raced toward the ruined stones.

Rey found him hidden behind the wall. The wet and naked stranger rested on top of a dappled silver and black pelt. He laid on his side with one large hand squeezed between his thighs and the other at the hollow of his throat. With his fingertips, he gingerly supported the wooden shaft of a large spear that had pierced through his jugular notch. Dark red blood flowed from the wound, generously coating his bare pale chest, stomach, thighs, lower arms, and hands.

The man awkwardly turned his head and shoulders to look at Rey when he heard her approach him, adjusting himself to keep the spear in his throat steady. Rey shined the flashlight into his face. His long black hair was plastered to his cheeks, his forehead, and the bridge of his aquiline nose. He gazed up at her with narrowed hazel eyes and a curiously blank expression for a brief eternity before speaking.

“Rey…” Her name seemed odd and malformed on his frail tongue. “You found me.”


	5. St. Irene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! 
> 
> Happy **EARTH DAY!!** I had to release a chapter on one of my favorite holidays, right? Get outside while you're reading some fan fiction if you're able to and the weather's nice. Hug a plant if one's around. 
> 
> This is a fic that I’m mostly writing for my own pleasure, but I’m so happy that other people seem to be enjoying it too. Thank you for all of your feedback. 
> 
> In terms of the song that is showcased in this chapter, [I recommend listening to its rendition by Nina Simone and Emil Latimer. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWmCbEbMmeU) Just so hauntingly beautiful.
> 
> Thanks for sticking around! 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“T…tá do mhisean críochnaithe.” The man’s Gaelic wasn’t warm and beautiful like Klaud’s. Instead, it was harsh, gravelly, and foreboding, the sound of a wave crashing violently against a cliff face despite the weakness of his voice.

The sheer panic and adrenaline that had overwhelmed Rey for the past six hours instantly drained from her body. Her knees gave out and she collapsed into a kneeling position at the man’s feet on the wet pebbly beach.

“What did you _do_ to me?” Her words came out in a loud hiss over the storm, fear and fury overtaking the empty space. She continued to forcefully shine the flashlight into his face.

_He can’t be human, still speaking with a wound like that._

The man took a painful, shaky breath. “I compelled you to seek me out,” he spoke in a halting, strained manner.

“ _How?_ ”

“Your name. You gave me your birth name.” Blood dripped down the handle of the spear onto his fingers. He timidly cast his eyes downwards. “I—I’m sorry.”

_He isn’t human._

“ _Who are you?_ ”

His whole body flinched. He hesitatingly looked back up into her face. Big, mournful hazel eyes.

 _No._ Rey glanced back down at the wide pelt he laid upon. Dappled silver and black.

Her heart dropped into her stomach. Rey turned the flashlight off. She let her eyes readjust just enough to be able to see the man in front of her through the full moon’s light illuminating the storm clouds.

“…Ben?”

With difficulty, he gave a slight nod.

“Did those boys do this to you?”

Ben bit the inside of his cheek. Another small nod.

Using the crumbling wall as a support, Rey stood on her weak legs and wobbled over to kneel beside the length of him on the wet ground. He painstakingly turned again to face her on his side. 

“Can you sit up?” She went to touch his shoulder. Ben emitted an inhuman rumbling growl and opened his mouth to bare his very human-looking teeth and gums. _Aggressive seal behavior._ She immediately pulled her hand back.

“ _Stop it._ I can’t _help you_ if you don’t let me touch you,” Rey spoke through gritted teeth. “ _Why_ did you force me to come out here if you _won’t_ let me help you?”

Ben stopped baring his teeth and gave Rey a look of helpless confusion.

“You did _not_ bring me out here so you’d have someone to die in front of. You _need_ to tell me _what_ to do.”

Rey stuck her freezing hands in the pockets of her poncho. She made forceful eye contact with the gigantic naked man in front of her and held it with steeled courage.

Ben’s eyes darted across her face with the energy of a trapped wild animal. Finally, he licked his lips and croaked, “Iron.” He tapped the wooden shaft of the spear with the little finger of the hand holding it. “Tip is iron. C—can’t pull it out. Hurts.”

_No shit, it “hurts.”_

“Do you want me to pull the spear out?”

The emergency first aid course Rey took during her first summer as an intern so that she could work in the field now screamed at her question.

 _Never remove an object that has impaled a person. Stabilize it with gauze and medical tape. Get to a hospital as soon as possible_.

She fought to keep the sensible instructions out of her brain.

_He’s not human. There’s no hospital nearby._

“…Yes.”

“Will you die on me if I pull it out?”

Ben weakly shook his head.

“You need to sit up if you want me do it. Can I help you sit up without you _biting_ me?”

A feral, frightened stare glazed over his eyes for a brief moment, but he gave her a tiny nod.

“ _Tell me_ that you won’t bite me _.”_

“Won’t bite you,” he said quietly.

“Good. I am going to touch your arm now. ”

Ben screwed his eyes shut.

Rey reached out, very briefly and lightly brushed three fingers against the bicep of his spear-supporting arm, and quickly retracted her fingers into a fist. The pronounced muscle twitched beneath his skin, but he made no noises or aggressive movements.

“I’m going to have to get closer to you. Is that okay?”

“Yes,” Ben whispered.

Rey kneel walked forward until she kneeled on his seal skin. She gently but firmly gripped his bicep with one hand and dug the fingers of her other into his opposite armpit.

“You’re going to have to help me by pushing up with the arm you’re lying on now.” Ben obediently removed his hand from between his thighs and braced it on the ground.

“Ready?”

He nodded.

With some difficulty, Ben propped himself up on his elbow and pushed himself up into a sitting position with Rey guiding him and supporting his weight as best she could without jostling the spear. She kneel walked backwards to give him space. Ben leaned back on the wall and adjusted his legs, his knees bent and the soles of his feet touching as if in a loose butterfly meditation pose. As he breathed shallowly and rapidly, a thin stream of fresh blood trickled down his chest. He opened his eyes and watched Rey with cautious curiosity though the veneer of pain.

“Can I handle your pelt?”

Ben paused, then weakly shook his head.

“…Very well, then,” Rey pulled off her poncho. She carefully kneel walked forward over his feet and kneeled between his open legs. “Here,” she wrapped the garment around his middle to afford him some sort of privacy. Getting blood on her clothing was the last thing she was worrying about at the moment.

“Now lean forward on me, please, minding the spear.” Ben obeyed and awkwardly rested half of his bulky front on Rey, his shoulder pressing into her sternum. She tucked her chin over his shoulder and carefully explored his back with her outer hand, gently feeling around for a possible exit wound. Upon finding none, she sighed in relief. The spear hadn’t thoroughly impaled him.

Rey stood, still between Ben’s legs. Ben’s wary stare followed her face as best he could.

With numb fingers, Rey fumbled with her now bloody rain jacket’s zipper and got it off, shivering against the wind and rain. She yanked off her light blue sleep hoodie that she wore underneath and temporarily held it between her knees. Rey felt the raindrops begin to soak into her cotton bra and T-shirt as she threw the rain jacket back on over herself and zipped it back up to her chin. She offered the polyester blend hoodie to Ben. He grasped it with his free hand and looked at her questioningly.

“After I pull the spear out, press it to your wound. Stanch the bleeding.”

Rey gripped the butt of the spear behind Ben’s hand with one hand and steadied it. “I’m holding it for you. Let go, Ben.”

He hesitated with widened eyes fixed on Rey like a terrified feral animal.

Rey saw her seal just then in this stranger, and her heart squeezed. “Hey, buddy. Hey. Shhhhh. I swear on my life, I will not hurt you.”

Ben shut his eyes and removed his grip from the spear. He twisted Rey’s hoodie with both hands.

Rey closed her other hand over the portion of the spear handle that Ben had held and braced her feet. “Are you ready?”

He gave her a slight nod and whimper.

“One…two...”

On “three,” Rey smoothly jerked the spear back. She cringed at the sound of ripping flesh and Ben’s eerie cry. The spear’s flopper, a hinged piece of metal attached to the shaft meant to keep the spear imbedded in the target’s flesh, tore the entrance wound wider horizontally. Rey could see yellow fat and moving red muscle in the ugly gape.

As instructed, Ben held her hoodie to the wound. Rey chucked the spear over the wall behind them and then fell to her knees, pressing all of her weight with both hands over Ben’s hand against the cloth.

Fresh red blood quickly leeched into the light blue fabric and stained her hands. Rey swore under her breath, her heart pulsing rapidly in her neck.

“Wait,” Ben mumbled. He pawed at the hoodie with his free hand. “Take it off…”

“Are you stupid?!”

“Please…” Ben gave her a frightened look. “Trust me?”

Rey pressed her lips together and begrudgingly let go.

Ben peeled back the cloth and cupped his bloody hand over the gushing wound at his throat.

“Deisigh an chréacht seo,” he whispered.

The same silvery-blue shimmery glow that led her here manifested beneath his palm. He trained his attention on Rey’s face while Rey watched his throat in shock.

“Sing for me, please?” He asked weakly.

“Why?”

“Helps.”

“What song?”

“…Anything.”

Rey nervously ran through the songs she knew by heart in her head. “Sing something _now?_ ”

Ben nodded. “Put your hand on me too?”

Rey went to touch his cheek but quickly drew her hand back as if from a hot flame, giving the man a skeptical look.

“Won’t…hurt you. Swear it. Please.”

After slight hesitation, Rey held his jaw in her hand. He leaned into her touch but kept his eyes trained on her.

She ran her tongue over her bottom teeth and began an old Appalachian folk song in her clear mezzo-soprano voice.

_Black is the color of my true love's hair_

_His face so soft and wondrous fair_

_The purest eyes_

_And the strongest hands_

_I love the ground on where he stands_

_I love the ground on where he stands…_

Rey used her other hand to pull wet strands of Ben’s hair off of where they were plastered on his face as she sang the refrain. Ben watched her every move with a carefully guarded expression.

_Black is the color of my true love's hair_

_Of my true love's hair_

_Of my true love's hair…_

Rey stopped and dropped her hand, noticing that the rain was beginning to let up. She watched at his throat as the glow weakened underneath his hand.

“Please, more. Almost done,” Ben pleaded softly. “Touch me.”

Rey complied, reaching out and gingerly resting her hand on the side of his neck. As she rubbed the skin of his neck with her thumb, Rey secretly noticed how strangely soft and velvety it was. Ben again leaned into her touch, observing her curiously. The light strengthened again under his hand, creating a warm fleshy glow that shone through his fingers and palm. Rey took a steady breath and resumed from where she left off.

_Oh, I love my lover_

_And where he goes_

_Yes, I love the ground on where he goes_

_And still I hope_

_That the time will come_

_When he and I will be as one_

_When he and I will be as one…_

She paused once more, but seeing how he opened his mouth to protest, finished out the song by repeating the refrain.

_So black is the color of my true love's hair_

_Black is the color of my true love's hair_

_Black is the color of my true love's hair…_

“…That’s the song.” She withdrew her hand and sat back before him on her knees. The rain had gradually ceased as she finished singing. The clouds now parted and allowed the full moon to shine down on the little island of Inishmore.

Ben removed his hand from his throat. The wound was now knitting together, an angry red line instead of a gaping hole. Rey stared at it in shock.

“Thank you,” Ben gave her a shy, weak smile. As if he just now realized his nakedness, he made a cognizant effort to pull the bloody poncho further up over his hips. 

“What was _that?_ ”

“Draíocht.”

“ _What_?”

Ben searched for the translation but came up with nothing. He shook his head and shyly looked away from Rey.

“You…you can leave now,” he said, surveying his blood soaked arms and torso.

“ _Excuse me?”_

Ben apprehensively glanced at Rey through his eyelashes. “I…return to the sea to recover. It’s easier that way...healing.”

“You promise me that you’ll be careful?”

Ben nodded.

“Will you come _back_?”

“Yes.”

“ _Promise_?”

“Promise.”

Rey stood and backed off of his skin. “Well, I want to see you into the sea myself. Can you stand with help?”

Ben paused, then nodded. With a cautious tenderness, he pulled his knees up to his chest and pulled Rey’s poncho off of him, offering it to Rey who took it from him and put it on. He wrapped the partially bloodied pelt around his shoulders.

Rey offered Ben her hand and he took it. Using Rey and the wall behind him as leverage, he stood. Ben towered over Rey but he still leaned against her for support, wrapping his pelt-covered arm around her like the fuzzy wing of a hen.

The odd, exhausted pair ambled down to the shore on rickety legs. The sea also had quieted down and now lapped calmly against the beach.

“Wait.” Before they entered the water, Ben turned to gently lean his torso against Rey’s. Rey wrapped her arms around his hips to brace his weight against her while he adjusted his pelt around him. He found where his eyeless, black masked seal head was in the pelt and pulled it over his human head as if it was the hood of a jacket.

“Good?” Rey asked.

Ben nodded.

They walked into the water, Rey ignoring the sea water that swamped her shoes, socks and water-tolerant but not waterproof high-waisted pants. When they got up to where the water hit Rey’s hips, she stopped.

“I can’t go any further.”

“I can go on from here by myself,” Ben replied softly.

Rey reluctantly helped Ben squat in the water, his weight now supported by the tide. As she waded her way back to shore, he watched her with wide eyes.

She waved at him when she got back to land. “Hi, bud! I’m good now!”

Ben, sensing it was his cue to depart, turned to face the sea and waded a little further out before ducking under the water.

Rey waited for about three minutes until she heard a metallic “blaat” and saw the rough outline of a seal head in the water.

“Bye, buddy!” She yelled hoarsely into the sea.

Her selkie trilled back at her in response before disappearing under a huge wave and failing to resurface.


	6. St. Joachim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, 
> 
> Happy National Pretzel Day! 
> 
> Before we begin the chapter, I want to address something important and relevant to how the rest of the story will pan out. 
> 
> In folklore, male selkies are one of those fantastic creatures used to explain the infants with unknown paternity, especially those born to unwed mothers. Another example of a fairly similar being would be the _boto tucuxi_ , a seductive dolphin shape-shifter who emerges from the Amazon River in Brazil as a handsome young man to seduce young women. I love them, but male selkies are less popular than their female counterparts. Thus, their mythology is vaguer and more difficult to pin down. Their most popular stories seem to be when they willingly go after lonely wives of fishermen. Since this Rey does not fit into this female archetype, I will continue taking some conservative liberties to expand the abilities and traits of the male selkie while staying as faithful to the little mythology there is as I can. 
> 
> As selkies are often considered some sort of fae, a lot of these traits and/or abilities will be pulled out of primarily Celtic, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and British interpretations of what “fae” do and the protections against their influences. Of course, “the fae” in general is a modern-ish concept pulled from an amalgamation of pre-Christian beliefs in these countries, many different strains of Christianity, and a whole other boatload of mythologies, belief systems, and folklore that I do not feel equipped to delve into too deeply. 
> 
> Also as I enter exam season, it probably will be around a week and a few days before I get to update again. I'll still try to aim for Sunday morning, but no guarantees. :) 
> 
> With that out of the way, a big ‘thank you’ for sticking around at my attempt at a selkie husband story. I appreciate any and all feedback.
> 
> Best,  
> Lady
> 
> P.S. This Palpy is a kind and supportive Palpy because Rey deserves better than what she got in canon. 
> 
> P.P.S. I just realized that I have no idea what Ben sounds like in this fic. D: I adore Adam Driver but I think his strong Midwestern cadence often hinders his ability to speak convincingly with an accent while acting (as of April 2020). Whether you want to try to envision a Ben with an Irish accent or a Ben with a Midwestern American accent who somehow ended up in Ireland, I’ll leave that for you to decide. :,)

Rey biked back to the hostel with her top half covered with Ben’s drying blood and her bottom half soaked to the skin with saltwater. She navigated back by the light of the full moon and without any feeling in her lower extremities. Her sleep hoodie was tied around her middle—Rey knew she couldn’t leave a bloody piece of clothing laying on the beach. Someone would find it in their search for the allegedly dead seal in the next few days.

When she arrived at the door to her room, she stripped off her poncho and rain jacket, tucked her phone and keys under her arm, turned both pieces of clothing inside out, and sandwiched the hoodie between them.

Rey entered the room quietly. Rose was still sound asleep, her entire arm hanging over the side of the top bunk. Rey exhaled silently in relief. Rose would figure out _something_ was amiss sooner rather than later, but the last thing Rey wanted to deal with now was a confused and panicked roommate.

Rey peeled everything off and stood naked in the middle of their room with her entire outfit in a big wad in her hands.

_What do I do with this?_

Rey grabbed the brown paper bag that Rose brought their dinner home in from their kitchenette and stuffed all of her clothing into it. Retrieving a fresh towel from the closet and wrapping it around herself, Rey put the brown bag under her arm, put on her shower sandals, and grabbed her toiletry bag and phone. She opened the other door of their room next to their closet that led into the hostel’s main hallway and made a mad dash for the bathroom at the end of the hall. Rose and Rey shared the ladies’ room with other guests, but as expected, no one was using the bathrooms at 3:15 in the morning.

Rey set up her phone to quietly play jazz music before hopping into the shower stall. She turned on the hot water, knowing Mas was going to give her a stern talking to tomorrow morning when the hostel owner went in for her morning shower and was greeted only with freezing cold water.

She hung the towel on the provided hook and stepped into the shower, naked, with her three pieces of bloodied clothing in hand. She stood under the steaming water for a few brief moments, allowing the feeling of spiky hot nerves being reinvigorated to spread through her legs. Then, using a bit of her body wash and her fibrous luffa sponge, Rey set to work scrubbing at Ben’s blood on her poncho against the shower stall wall. With her hands busy, her mind wandered.

 _A man_ forced _me somehow to find him on the beach. He spoke to me with a wound that would have killed any normal human. Then…he_ healed _it while I sang to him?_ And _he turned into a seal in front of me?_

The thoughts that trickled down from her fatigued mind felt surreal and borderline nonsensical. Yet here she was, washing his bloodstains out of her clothing. 

_Ben._

Such a plain name for such a strange…man? Seal? Creature?

She rinsed her poncho under the stream of water and watched the red-stained water intermixed with tiny flakes of dried brown blood swirl down the drain.

_No._

Rey knew the answer already.

_Selkie._

What other explanation was there?

Rose, the Hibernophile that she was, especially in college, looped Rey into a student storytelling guild which focused on Celtic folklore when they were sophomores. While Rose’s interests quickly shifted to Ireland’s history and archaeology, Rey never left. The group was mostly made up of English and Folklore majors, leading Rey to feel like a fish out of water, but they were incredibly kind to the odd duckling. She never made extremely close friendships with any of the members, but they all became friends over social media and held each other in warm regards. In fact, she was added to a group chat just last week by a former president who wanted to meet up collectively with any alumni who were living in Boston for a beer or two. 

Rey never became a good storyteller, but she was an excellent audience member who soaked up stories like a luffa.

As the Beauty and the Beast trope _and_ seal enthusiast that she was, selkie stories were Rey’s crack cocaine. She read through nearly every variation on selkie myths that she was able to find in the library and online after the guild’s collective consciousness ran dry.

Here in the shower, she tried recalling stories about injured selkies, iron, and healing…abilities?

_Nothing._

After success with the poncho, she started over with her rain jacket.

_Was this selkie “handsome,” though?_

Rey paused at this intrusive thought. It wasn’t a _weird_ thought, per say—the main trait of male selkies was how irresistibly handsome they were, to the point where they could come on land and easily sweep women off their feet. It was _perfectly_ logical to wonder about this.

In truth, Ben’s human appearance wasn’t what Rey focused on in the blurred whirlwind of keeping him alive. But now that her heightened emotions began to settle just the tiniest bit, Rey recalled some of the fleeting details she liked: his big eyes, his high cheekbones, his soft mouth, and how tender his skin was against her hands. When he stood and walked beside her, she remembered that he walked rather fragilely with an in-toed gait, a trait she frequently observed in football players and had always thought was weirdly cute.

_He seemed…soft. A tall, gentle giant._

_“You really like Rey, don’t you, Ben?”_ Rose’s words to the seal echoed in Rey’s mind as she switched over to washing her hoodie. She pumped a giant dollop of shampoo on the chest of the hoodie and rubbed the fabric against itself between her hands.

Ben had nodded then, hadn’t he?

_But did he call for me to help him because he likes me or because I was convenient?_

On one hand, Ben called her there against her will, but on the other hand, he seemed to do it out of desperation and immediately apologized for it. He wouldn't call for just _anyone_ to see him in such a vulnerable position, would he?

Rey swore partially at her conflicted brain trying to decide what her opinion was on Ben and partially at the bloodstains. Though she got a good deal of blood out, the fabric was likely ruined. She would have to try throwing it in the washer, she reasoned, but she needed to hide it until laundry day next Wednesday.

Rey hung all three pieces of clothing over the shower curtain rod and turned her attention to her own sweaty skin. She scrubbed down her torso, legs, and arms, forcing concentration on the task at hand instead of on the situation she found herself in.

 _Shower, then bed_ was her shampooing mantra. There was no reason to think about what just happened tonight when she could dwell on it while cleaning hostel floors tomorrow.

As she began drying off, her phone switched from smooth jazz to a ring tone. Rey grabbed her phone and looked at the caller ID. Her heart skipped a beat.

Rey pressed the ‘accept call’ button and answered.

“Hello?”

“Reyyyyyyy!” A old man with a refined and rumbling voice enthusiastically responded, his mouth a little bit too close to the phone speaker. “How is my lovely granddaughter?”

“Papa!” Rey couldn’t help but smile at her grandfather’s voice. “You woke me up at...3:45 in the morning.”

“Oh, you’re five hours _before_ me? I’m sorry, I thought you were five hours _behind_ me. I hope I didn’t wake up Rose too. Forgive me, my brain isn’t what it used to be—”

“Noooo, it’s okay. I’m happy you called. I missed you.” Rey tucked her phone into the crook of her neck and wrapped her towel around her middle.

“I miss you too! So, so much. Guess what today is?”

“What?”

“It’s a _very_ special anniversary for me.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s been officially seven years since I found you.” Sheev “Papa” Palpatine’s voice blossomed into an obvious smile. “I wanted to call and remind you just how blessed I am to have you in my life.”

Here was a man who spent nine years of his life trying to track down his only granddaughter that he didn’t know existed until after the untimely deaths of his estranged son and his wife. The man who burst into her life after she experienced three failed adoptions and nine years of bouncing from foster home to foster home. He cried and shook as he held the internally angry and confused teenage Rey with abandonment issues and too many questions in his arms. The man who officially adopted her at seventeen, spent two weeks celebrating every single one of the birthdays that he missed after they left the courthouse, and who had paid for her to go to college. Her own flesh and blood.

Rey felt the tears begin to trickle down her cheeks.

“Rey?”

“I love you, Papa,” Rey said and unintentionally let out a loud, mucous-filled sniffle.

“You feeling okay, chickadee?” Concern colored his voice.

“I’ll be good.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Rey shook her head. “It’s just been a very long and stressful twenty-four hours.”

“Alright,” Papa hesitated. “Remember: I’m a phone call away. Feel free to call me whenever you’d like. I’ve been doing a better job carrying my phone around in the last couple weeks, so I should be able to pick up quickly. If I’m asleep or in a meeting, I’ll call you back as soon as I can, okay?”

“Got it.”

“Well, I’ll let you get back to sleep. Call me when you have time to fill me in on your Ireland adventures!”

“I will!”

“Okay. Good night, love.”

“Good night!”

After she hang up, Rey sat down on the bathroom tile, leaned against the cool ceramic wall, and let herself quietly cry for a spell to get all of the mixed emotions out of her system in one go.

_To the uncertainties of her post-graduation future._

_For the kindness of friends and strangers._

_For the loyalty and love of an old man who didn’t_ have _to want her there in his life._

_For the terrified and timid young man on the beach with a spear in his chest._

***

As soon as her head hit her pillow, Rey fell into a deep and dreamless sleep until she was awoken by the cries of terns outside the next morning.


	7. St. Brigid of Kildare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, 
> 
> Happy May Day _and_ National Chocolate Parfait Day! Did an early update come about because I couldn’t sleep after four consecutive days of studying for my last exam on Monday last night? You bet your bottom dollar that’s correct. This is another chapter I’ve decided to split in half because why not. I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Rey found herself worrying about Ben every other hour during the first week of his absence.

_Is he safe? Is he healing? Is he alive?_

Every other night, Rey dreamed about him.

She would run barefoot along the pebbly Inishmore beach and find his crumpled, bloated human body lying face-down, his beautiful pelt torn to shreds around him. When she turned him over, his sightless eyes gazed into the night sky and his mouth was open in a silent scream. She slept uncharacteristically lightly, waking up in a cold sweat at least two or three times a night.

By the second week, Rey choose to focus her spare time and energy into long distance running instead of seal watching. In the evenings, though, she stopped by the point on her runs and called for Ben. She waited precisely ten minutes before heading on her merry way.

The selkie occupied her thoughts less and less as the days passed. If it wasn’t for the blood in her clothing, she could have believed that the strange man was a figment of her exhausted imagination from that night.

Ben’s blood hadn’t come out of her hoodie after two trips though the washer and dryer. Ruddy brown stains still marred the pale blue cloth. Rey decided to hide it in her pillow case away from Rose’s prying eyes and questions. While she might be able to accept a seal who understood English, Rey wasn’t sure if her best friend was ready to stomach the story of a tall, wide-chested selkie man who survived a spear wound through the neck as truth.

It wasn’t until the ninth day after Rey’s fateful encounter that Mas noticed the mark.

Now that it was offseason, Mas and Rey decided to tackle the daunting task of scrubbing down all of the hostel’s bathrooms, starting with the men’s bathroom on the first floor. Balanced on the highest rung on the stepladder, Rey was taking a yellow-bristled brush to a particularly stubborn bloom of green mold three quarters to the ceiling when Mas made the observation.

“Rey.”

“Yes?”

“ _What_ is on the back of your left calf?”

Rey hopped off of the step ladder and awkwardly twisted her leg inwardly to take a look. Sure enough, there was a mark that certainly hadn’t been there the night before when she was shaving her legs in the shower.

“To be honest with you, I have no idea.”

Rey leaned against the wall to ponder upon it more comfortably. It looked a bit like a slightly blobby jellyfish in the color of a ripe strawberry.

“Is it painful? Does it itch?”

Rey shook her head. “Neither.” 

“Looks like a port-wine stain.”

“I’m…not going to worry about it unless it gets worse.”

“Suit yourself! Call me if you need a ride to the clinic.” 

Though Rey religiously checked it from then on out every morning right after she woke and every evening before she went to bed, the mark didn’t do anything except sit there on her skin. Rose made some nervous comments upon seeing it when Rey got out of the shower after dinner that evening, but Rey reassured her it wasn’t a big deal. She refused to think of it past “ _How strange!_ ” and “ _I hope this isn’t some magical bullshit_.”

Rey made peace with the fact that Ben was probably gone for good by the end of the second week. She was a seasoned professional at rationalizing why people disappeared out of her life. 

_After all, stories about male selkies hint at their poor time management. It could be seven years before he returns to Inishmore._

In the evening of the fourth day into the third week after Rey’s fateful encounter, Rose challenged Rey to a Uno marathon after dinner on their rickety card table. The loser had to take a half-shot of whiskey for every game lost. So far, Rose won five games in a row.

“Rey…you sure you want continue playing Uno?” Rose grabbed for a bottle of whiskey to pour herself a consolatory shot in her Vegas souvenir shot glass with a blonde showgirl on the front.

“Yeah! I feel good about the next game.”

“Three shot Rey” licked the rim of her shot glass, a gift from Rose with a cartoon robot emblazoned on the side.

“…Alright,” Rose threw back her second shot of the night and began shuffling the cards.

She watched Rose deal. Rey was a lightweight and didn’t get tipsy too often, so the buzz brought on by two and a half shots made her feel comfy and sluggish. A sixth half-shot would put her to sleep within fifteen minutes.

“So…” Rose tapped the deck of cards on the table. “Have plans tomorrow night?”

“No, why?”

“Armie’s birthday tomorrow. He invited us to go pubbing in Doolin.”

Rey raised her eyebrows. “Oh? We’d be a strange trio for such a thing.”

“Oh, no. It would be us two, Armie, and three of his buddies from Dublin.”

“Why would he invite _us_ though?”

Rey smiled over her fan of cards as Rose turned bright pink.

“Rey, I’m _not_ going to question it,” Rose muttered over her cards.

Rey laughed, a sensation that felt good after the uptight feeling of hiding a giant, burdensome secret from her best friend had taken over for the nearly three weeks. “Okay, okay. I’m down, but I think I’ll be the sober friend. Is that okay?”

Rose nodded.

“Oh, thank god,” Rey dramatically fell back on her chair and fanned herself with the cards in her hand. “I don’t think I could keep up with Dubliners _and_ an archaeologist at a pub. Do we get to dress up and look cute for once?”

“Yup.”

“Yessssss.”

“Klaud and his group are also going to play at McDermott’s Thursday night, so I want to go and support them too.”

“Of course,” Rey chuckled. “Can’t miss his music for the world. Did Armitage tell you who his friends were?”

Rose shrugged and threw down her second to last card. “Former work buddies. Oh—Uno, by the way.” 

***

The next evening, Rey was a bit more intense than she normally was during the “dressing up” part of the deal. She didn’t anticipate opportunities to go partying during her excursion to Ireland, so her clothes weren’t exactly party clothes. Rey picked out a Rose-approved outfit consisting of her dress boots, a long sleeve shirt, dark jeans, and her (overpriced) grey walking cape with a funnel collar. Her face and hair, however, she went all out with.

The studious nerd that she was, Rey never really _went out_ in college. She could only recall about four frat parties during their first year, during all of which Rose mothered over her (who wasn’t someone who needed to be watched over) and a very drunk Jannah, one of their mutual friends (who definitely needed to be watched after) during. In hindsight, she regretted not going out more often, especially after Rose turned into a more relaxed partier. This was an opportunity to make up for it.

Rey attacked her messy eyebrows with the fury of a thousand suns and somehow convinced Rose to do her makeup: a soft smoky eye and a dusty rose lip. She felt a sense of pride in her appearance, admiring Rose’s work in their room’s shared mirror.

One of her best friends in high school once told her to keep her makeup wearing at a minimum to (1) cut down on time and (2) wow everyone in the room on the occasional days when she decided to put it on. Rey never felt like she _wowed_ people with her looks, but she never considered herself unattractive in the least. For her hair, she ended up going with a loose plait. _That_ she could thankfully do by herself.

Rose let her hair down and chose similar eye makeup to Rey’s but with warmer hues and higher blush. She elected to wear faded jeans and her Aran sweater.

Rey watched Rose apply a red lip stain in the mirror.

“Rose.”

“Hm?”

“You’re _gorgeous._ ”

Rose rolled her eyes and looked over at Rey. “What can I say? We may be elderly ladies at twenty-two, but we do clean up well.” Lip on, Rose fluffed out her hair and gave herself an approving look in the mirror.

Rey beamed.

Armie in a flannel and corduroy pants arrived in the tour van at 18:15 and taxied the girls down to the docks. He’d somehow arranged with Taibít the ferry captain to pick them up at half past midnight to take their drunk asses (except Rey) back to the island.

Rey watched Armie’s body language as he helped Rose onto the ferry. He gripped Rose’s hand firmly and steadied her with his other hand at a little lower than the middle of her back as she stepped over the gap between the boat and the dock. It was a tiny gesture, sure, but if Rey was in Rose’s position, she was sure that her heart would flutter.

Rey’d initially been unimpressed with the guy when she first met him. He had an excellent resting bitch face when he wasn’t entertaining customers. She wasn’t physically enamored with him either like how Rose was almost instantaneously: he shaved during the summers and slicked his hair back to resemble more a flight attendant than a bartender or a tour guide. But getting to know him better, she began to understand why Rose liked him so much. He was assertive, funny and a good listener. He just let chatty Rose _talk_ and kept up with the conversation, interjecting appropriate questions when needed. When the summer season passed and Armie grew out his hair and beard, Rey could then admit she found him to be a good-looking man too.

The two eventually joined Rey at the front of the boat and watched the post-sunset rosy afterglow as the stark, imposing Cliffs of Moher came into view.

Armie’s tour guide senses overtook him after a prolonged three-way conversation about travel. “Rose. Would you like me to take a picture of you two?”

“Um, sure!”

Rey and Rose hugged each other and Armie very professionally snapped photos with the flash on using Rose’s phone. Once he allowed the two to inspect the photos, Rey saw an opportunity.

“Armie, do you want a photo with Rose?”

“Rey!” Rose protested.

Armie smiled. “Rose, you look breathtaking tonight. It’s my birthday. Please?”

“… _Fine_.”

Armie wrapped his arm around Rose’s waist and Rose leaned her temple until it was just barely against Armie’s chest. Rey took several photos of the striking couple and gave Rose back her phone.

When they arrived on the dock, a silver Citron C5 with its high beams on was waiting for them. When they stepped off the ramp, the car let out a series of blaring honks.

The driver’s window rolled down and a woman with a short blonde bob stuck her head out. “You with the head on ya! We’ve been waiting for you for _half an hour!_ ”

The passenger’s window also rolled down and an older man’s balding head popped out. “Armitage, you ugly bastard, get in here. Mitty’s sitting with our drinks and knowing the pox he’ll get fucked up before we get back!” As if just now noticing Rey and Rose on either side of Armie, the passenger continued, saying, “Hello ladies, don’t memorize anything I say tonight! I’m six beers in and plan to keep on drinking.”

Armie opened the backdoor seat and let Rey in first, followed by Rose in the middle.

The passenger turned around and peered at Armie again who now sat behind him over the headrest. “Jaysus, Armie, you’ve a face like a slapped arse with that beard, ya muppet.”

“Rose, Rey, this is Eiric Pryde and Phasma Murphy. My other buddy, Doph, is at McDermott’s already.”

“Hello!” Rey’s voice cracked.

Phasma let out a braying laugh. “Don’t mind the boys, girls. They get a little rambunctious but I’ll keep them in line for ya. I’m going easy on the alcohol tonight.”

“Armie,” Eiric grunted, “you won’t believe who I found for ya today. In the fecking supermarket of all places.”

Phasma shushed her passenger. “We have a _surprise_ for ya, is what he means.”

“Oh, right, right. Forget I said anything.”

Phasma put forth the game plan for the evening during the drive over: beers and music at McDermott’s, a couple shots at McCann’s, and if they were feeling really keen, O'Connors for a nightcap.

When they got to McDermott’s, Phasma dropped them off and went to park. It was a homey two story pub with tan walls and a black roof. The restaurant’s name and “DOOLIN” was proudly displayed in yellow text on a navy sign above the doorway. Alternating yellow and blue plastic triangle flags on a white string hung from its awnings. A peak into the window with a crosshatched iron frame beside the main entrance confirmed to Rey that it was mildly busy with probably a dozen or so locals, a welcome change from the same six faces on the island.

Eiric held the door open for the three. Inside, customers spread themselves out among the copious numbers of tables and chairs. They created a welcoming, noisy atmosphere in the warm lamplight that Rey forgot she occasionally craved for after periods of solitude.

Sure enough, Klaud and his two right hand men were there tuning their instruments in the corner. Rose slipped away to have a brief chat with her friends.

“Eiric! Armie! Over here!” A short, pinched-faced man with dark brown hair waved the men and Rey over to a bigger table on the opposite side of the room.

Armie introduced Rey to his friend. “Rey, Doph. Doph, Rey.”

“Nice to meet ya, Rey.”

“Lovely to meet you too.”

Rey sat next to Eiric with an empty chair to her right. The walls were covered in posters, photos, and other pieces of paraphernalia that Rey had come to expect with many pubs.

“So, Doph,” Armie began. “Where’s my first drink of the evening?”

“Yer surprise is getting your beer. Hey! Kyle!” Doph, with probably already a couple of drinks in his system, shouted over to the bar. 

Armie’s surprise, dressed in a red cardigan and jeans, leaned against the bar while the bartender finished pouring his order. Rey gawked as he turned around. The white V-neck shirt he wore underneath framed the pink hypertrophic scar that ran horizontally in a short line at the hollow of his throat. Now clothed and with dried and groomed hair, he passed for a normal, perhaps even handsome, man with a pleasantly neutral expression plastered on his face.

“ _Ben?_ ”

He locked eyes with Rey as soon as he heard his name.

Her seal froze, paled, and dropped the two full pint glasses that he held in his hands onto the floor.


	8. St. Augustine of Hippo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> My last exam is finished and you know what that means?! MORE SELKIE BEN SOLO FAN FICTION AHAHAHA
> 
> I may be a day late to May 4th, but I can wish you a much more superior Happy National Astronaut Day instead!
> 
> The chapter count may be extended again based on the outline I have because I think I enjoy shorter chapters combined with more frequent updates. We shall see. 
> 
> [For the song showcased in this chapter, I recommend this version for background listening.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugQPWvnr0kU)
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

The entire pub went silent as the glasses hit the old growth oak floor with a loud crash.

Rey noticed out of the corner of her eye that Eiric observed the entire one word exchange between her and Ben. He looked at her with a smirk and a slightly amused yet bewildered expression on his face. 

“Whoa there, mate!” Armie stood and rushed over to Ben standing in a pile of spilled stout and broken glass. “Spilling my black stuff, are ya?”

“I’m sorry…” Disregarding the beer on his jeans, Ben crouched and began to pick up the larger pieces of glass. “Bit knackered tonight.”

Armie stooped to help Ben. The bulky bartender grabbed a two towels, a broom, and a dust pan from behind the bar and made his way over to the two men.

“Knackered or fluthered?”

“Bit of both.” Ben’s face and neck were bright scarlet, probably in response to the entire pub’s sight set upon him.

“I’ll take it from here, boys,” the bartender grumbled. Ben nodded and placed several pieces of broken glass onto the dust pan that the bartender held out to him.

Armie grabbed the towel that the bartender offered Ben and the pair walked back together to the table.

Eiric rested his face in his hand and took a swig of his beer.

“Rey, right?”

“Oh! Yes.”

“Armie, introduce Rey to this bloke.”

“Rey, this is Kyle Renaghan.” Armie handed Ben the towel. “Former work friend.”

Ben decided that wiping off his arms was more interesting that anyone in front of him.

“Hello…Kyle. Nice to meet you. How are you this evening?”

“Grand. Just grand,” his eyes flitted up to her face and then down to his feet.

“Ah. Good to hear,” Rey kept her eyes steadily trained on Ben.

“You clumsy man.” Armie eyes ran up the entire length of Ben’s body from his head to his feet. “Haven’t changed a bit in…Christ, has it been six years already?”

Ben nodded.

“Jaysus, where’ve the years gone?” Eiric muttered. “I had most of my hair six years ago.”

“What’ve you been up to?” Armie asked as he and Ben sat side by side across from Rey.

Ben shrugged, reaching under the table to pat the wet spots on his shins dry with the same towel. “Same old. Working odd jobs. Travelling a lot in between.”

“Where to?” Armie asked.

“Norway, Iceland, and Greenland…some islands around there too.”

“The feck? Far up north, man. Quite the traveler. If I was in your shoes, I’d go to New York, Las Vegas or Los Angeles. See if it’s like the movies.” Armie leaned back as another bartender, a willow-limbed woman with wide shoulders, delivered two replacement stouts for him and Ben.

“True. Maybe I’ll go there eventually.”

Ben let the conversation die a slow and painful death. They sat there awkwardly, sipping on their beer.

“Still a man of few words?” Eiric chuckled.

Ben shrugged again.

Eiric clapped Ben on the back. Ben preemptively braced himself against the blow. “Still as awkward as ever too. Rey, love! Does he remind you of someone?”

Rey felt heat rise to her ears. Ben gave her just the briefest glance of panic before deciding his hands were more fascinating than her face.

“Kyle looks like one of my exes from college. His name was Benjamin.”

“Aaaaahhhh,” Doph interjected light-heartedly. “Do you have a type or is it just a coincidence?”

“Coincidence,” Rey’s mouth was dry. “Actually, excuse me, gentlemen, I need to go to the bathroom.”

Rey walked with forced alacrity to the women’s restroom down the hallway past the bar. Once in the nearest wooden stall, she sat on the toilet and shakily unlaced her boots to slip them off. She pulled off her woolen socks underneath and turned them inside out before putting them back on.

 _He will_ not _enchant me tonight._

She read somewhere that fae spells wouldn’t work if your clothing was worn inside out. _Inside out socks against selkie enchantments will work, surely?_

Rey laced her boots back and exited the stall, giving herself a good few minutes to brace herself over the yellowed ceramic sink and force down her stomach’s sudden desire to nervously vomit up dinner. When she got that under control, Rey left the bathroom to find that Phasma and Rose had rejoined the group. Ben had a half-finished stout in front of him and seemed to fold himself into his chair as if in an attempt to make himself smaller.

“Rey!” Rose, looking absolutely golden and stunning in the pub’s lighting, sat in chair beside Rey’s, “I got you water. Are you _sure_ you don’t want anything to drink? Not even a cider?” 

A tiny sliver of relief ran down her spine at the sight of her friend among strangers and an unexpected mythical being. She took a seat next to Rose and took a sip of water from the glass in front of her.

“No, I’m good. Thank you.”

“Klaud’s about to start his set,” Rose told Rey in a low voice.

“Wonderful,” Rey said offhandedly, admittedly not paying Rose much mind. She trained her full attention back on Ben, who now found the bottom of his glass of stout very intriguing.

Sure enough, about five minutes later, Klaud’s purposefully less accented voice echoed through the pub, quieting the crowd almost immediately.

“ _Tráthnóna maith_. Welcome to McDermott’s. I’m Klaud O’Sullivan. If you don’t know me…” Klaud adjusted the tweed cap he wore to cover his balding head and scanned the crowd, “which is a grand total of four of you, my buddies here and I live over on Inishmore. Thanks to Bib over there behind the bar, I have a couple whiskeys in me already,” he hiccupped and smiled. “I detect a relaxed atmosphere in here tonight, so we’re keeping the set to some _classics_. Does that work for people, yeah?” A muffled murmur of agreement ruffled through the crowd. “Maybe I’ll throw in some jokes here or there, who knows.” Klaud strummed his guitar for a couple moments to transition into his next thought, cleared his voice, and said, “The first night’s song is “If I Was a Blackbird,” an old Scottish love ballad that happens to be a favorite of mine if you don't know. Doesn’t need much explanation beyond that, does it? Well, enjoy.”

_I am a young sailor, my story is sad,_

_Though once I was carefree and a brave sailor lad,_

_I courted a lassie by night and by day,_

_Oh but now she has left me, and sailed far away…_

Ben stood after the first verse and made a quiet beeline for front door. Rey watched him leave, though no one else really acknowledged his presence due to Klaud’s mesmerizing voice.

Rey rifled through her coat pockets and found the loose twenty euros she brought along just in case and pressed the bill into Rose’s hand.

“ _I’ll be back._ ” Rey whispered to Rose, making a move to stand.

“Where are you going?” Rose responded in a rough whisper, curling her fingers over the money.

“Out for a walk. I’ll be back before Klaud’s set finishes.” 

***

Rey stomped out of the pub and found him sitting at the bench of the furthermost picnic table from the pub’s front entrance. He faced the road and stared down it in an aimless daze, his features half-illuminated by the warm yellow light of the streetlamp above him. He was slouched forward, resting his elbows on the tops of his thighs while he took a drag on the cigarette stub in his hand.

Ben heard her footsteps on the gravel path and straightened up. He turned to look at her with barely concealed alarm as Rey cautiously stood about four feet away, her arms folded across her chest.

“You. Who _are_ you? _Kyle or Ben?_ ”

The man dropped the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it before picking it back up and temporarily putting it on the attached table behind him. He looked up at Rey with the same expressive hazel eyes as their last encounter. 

“…Ben.”

“Well, _Ben._ How do you know Armitage Humphrey?”

Ben scooted over on the bench and patted the empty space beside him, not removing his eyes from her face.

“Only if you answer my questions.”

Ben looked down at his shoes. They were a nice pair of black Oxford shoes, but were well-worn and scuffed.

“Worked at the same restaurant in Dublin for three summers. Was a dishwasher. He was a bartender. We became friends there, I guess.”

“Why would a _selkie_ need a job?”

Ben shrugged, still examining his shoes. “I—I like being around humans more than most of my people. For…as long as my body will let me, so, not often. Still inexperienced with your kind, but…jobs make it easier to learn.”

“Ben. Look at me. What did you do with the money you earned?”

With some hesitation, Ben leaned back against the picnic table and studied her face. “For clothing and food.” He again patted at the empty space beside him. “Seafood gets…tiring after a while.” He fought to keep a smile down at his own joke. 

Rey resisted.

“Where do you keep your clothes?”

“Don’t need to tell you every detail yet, do I?”

Rey glared. The briefest beginnings of a steely glint in his eyes ebbed away immediately.

“I’ll tell you. Eventually. Promise.”

“Your promises mean very little to me right now. Why should I believe you?”

He winced and Rey felt his eyes flit to the middle of her forehead, as if looking directly at her was like trying to look at the noon sun. “My kind doesn’t like telling falsehoods…difficult to do so. Even fake names hurt.”

“You’re telling me the truth?”

“Yes!” Ben exclaimed, crumbling a bit under her pressure.

“You didn’t implant false memories into Armitage?”

“No _._ Can’t _do_ that.” Ben looked back at her, face full of hurt. “I can...try to draw people towards me if I know their birth names, but…that’s all I can do to other beings. I couldn’t _force_ you to come find me that night. You came by yourself.”

“Are you _sure?_ ”

“Yes! And I thank you for it,” Ben said in an exasperated tone. “Trust me, please—”

“—Why would I _trust_ you? You tried to bite me. Then you disappeared for _three weeks. Do you know how much I worried about you? I looked for you every day. Why did you show back up in my life in the middle of a pub?_ ”

Ben stared at her, hurt and remorse apparent but without a retort or explanation. Rey again saw her seal again in his eyes, how he unconsciously brought his hand to his throat and traced over the scar with his fingertips.

In the silent night air of Doolin, Rey could hear Klaud singing the refrain for the last time inside.

_Oh, if I was a blackbird could whistle and sing,_

_I'd follow the vessel my true love sails in,_

_And in the top riggin' I would there build my nest,_

_And I'd flutter my wings o'er her lilly white breast._

Gathering her courage, she pressed forward.

“You’re not human. I don’t understand you, but I know about the shit your kind does, I’ve read the stories. If you’re attracted to me in the way that I think you are, there’s no fucking way. I’m not naïve.”

Ben shook his head. “You’re wrong. This…this is different. Different than…that.”

“How?”

“I only want to do… _that…leanbh a bhreith…_ in the late spring and early summer? Between…April and June?”

Ben searched for the words, screwing up his face in frustration.

“Come—walk with me to the pier? Will…help you understand what I’m saying. Can't stop thinking about you...but not like _that._ ”

With no response, he reached out his hand to her in a last ditch desperate plea. “Please?”

Rey stared at that open wide-palmed hand. 

“…Alright.”

Ben tried his best to conceal a nervous and unsure smile as Rey, despite her outward frustration, gently wrapped her hand around his fingers, pulled him to a standing position, and didn’t let go.


	9. St. Monica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> Happy National Lost Sock Memorial Day! Thank you for reading my late night garbage. Not much to say about this chapter but man oh man do I want a beautiful night to go stargazing. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Ben and Rey walked hand in hand through the main street of Doolin down to the craggy limestone pier near the docks. They didn’t exchange a word, but Rey noticed how Ben cautiously rubbed his thumb against her knuckles as they walked.

It seemed that everyone was at McDermott’s—the streets were empty and nothing but the occasional streetlamp lit up the town. No boats were docked. Taibít and her ferry were absent from the dock—knowing the woman, she probably took it out beyond the lights to stargaze on this remarkably clear night. Above them, the moon was a mere sliver of a crescent, but the sky was awash with twinkling stars. The Milky Way shown down as a bright foggy belt of starlight, helping to illuminate the early night sky to the point where Rey had minimal trouble climbing down the craggy limestone pier onto the rather narrow shelf that was only about eight inches above the dark waters.

Ben let go of her hand and Rey sat down on the shelf in a cross-legged position. She shoved her hands into her pockets. Though it was surprisingly not miserably cold for a mid-November evening, the cool breezes off the sea made the coastline chilly.

Rey watched as he wandered a bit farther past the pier to a large hill of boulders piled on the erosion-hewn shore that partially spilled into the sea. In an unsurprising show of strength, Ben scrambled to the top and began rolling aside stones that were at least four stone as if they weighed next to nothing. He grabbed his silvery skin, threw it around his shoulders as if it was a cape, and navigated down the hill back to Rey.

As Ben neared and stopped, he stared at her with nervous curiosity.

“So…you hide your stuff under rocks?”

“…Sometimes? I have friends who let me store things with them.”

“Do they know about ‘this’?”

Ben gave her a quizzical look.

“Do you show up at their houses only in your skin?”

“Um, yes. They know who I am.”

“How does the name ‘Kyle Renaghan’ play into this?

“Just for work and work-related matters.” Ben pulled the wide skin off of his shoulders and began to fold it as if it were a beach towel.

“It’s your name when you’re playing at ‘pretend human?’”

“…Yes. Could say it that way.”

Ben placed the now folded pelt at his feet about an arm’s length away from where Rey sat. He looked down at her as he bent over, his eyes bright in the evening light.

“I’m taking these off,” he said, gesturing down the entire length of his torso.

“Your clothes?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Need to…show you something. Important that you see.”

“…Alright?” Rey decidedly averted her eyes by picking up a pebble, squinting at it, and turning it over in her hands.

After a few moments, Ben broke the silence. “You can look?” he said a bit sheepishly.

“You sure?”

“You saw me without clothes already. Don’t mind.”

Rey hesitated, and then looked up.

Ben had pulled off his shoes, socks and cardigan and neatly lined them up by his feet. He grabbed the back of the neck of his shirt to pull it off in one swift motion, all the while dividing his attention between the clothes and stolen glances at Rey. Once off, he tucked it under his arm.

Rey stood and held out her hand. “Give me your clothes.”

Ben hesitated before handing over the shirt and cardigan.

As she folded his clothes, Rey gave Ben another look. He was just as pale and wide-bodied as she remembered him that night on the beach, but now that he wasn’t dying and covered in blood, it suddenly clicked for Rey that Ben indeed had an alluring intensity to him that matched the stories. Her eyes wandered from his face to his strong muscled chest, mentally tracing the constellation of moles down his front.

Ben unbuckled his leather belt and pulled it off, handing it to Rey. He hesitated at this jeans.

Rey peered past Ben towards the town. No one was there to stumble across a random man stripping for a random girl. 

“Everything alright?”

Ben patted at his crotch with confused eyebrows. “I don’t…usually worry about it in this way.”

It clicked for Rey and she swallowed laughter that came out as a scoff. “Are you hard?”

Ben peered into his underwear. “Kind of?”

Rey couldn’t hide her smile. “It’s alright. I don’t mind.”

Ben exhaled slowly and undid his jeans. “Sorry…nervous…and attracted to you.”

“Not used to a penis and testicles on the outside of your body?” Rey couldn’t help but to good-naturedly chide him for it. All seals had internal penises and testes.

“Been…a long time since I’ve…paid attention to being naked like this? Colder than I remember.” Ben gave her an embarrassed grin. Despite his somewhat uneasy grasp on English, he was willing to joke along with her. Rey liked that.

He pulled down his jeans and plaid boxers, stepped out of them, and held them out for Rey. As she folded them, she watched as Ben observed his own body.

He touched himself—not sexually, but as if he was appraising his genitals. True to his word, he was at a bit harder than a half-chub. Ben’s dick was, by all accounts, an attractive penis if one could consider such things attractive in the first place. Beneath a tuft of curly black pubic hair, it was a shower and uncut. Though the rest of it was only slightly darker than the rest of his skin, Rey observed that the head of it was a rosy pink when Ben pulled back his foreskin as if to inspect that it was there. Rey estimated he was probably somewhere between seven and eight inches long and decently thick when completely erect.

 _Appealing just like the rest of him._ Rey shooed the thought from her mind and focused back on the mission on hand.

“You were going to show me something…?”

Ben looked up from his apparently very enthralling ball sack. “Right, sorry.” He turned his back to her.

Despite the toned back and butt to admire before her, Rey’s blood ran cold as she focused on what she was 95% sure he was referring to.

“This,” he made an effort to point at the wine red mark that ran from the middle of his lower back, over his right buttock, and stopped midway down his right thigh.

“Can I touch it?

“…Yes?”

Rey traced the familiar blobby jellyfish shape that married her selkie’s skin with her pointer finger.

“Do you have something like this…?” He asked.

“…Yup.”

Ben turned to face her again as she reached down to roll up her pant leg. There was the blob on her own skin, roughly the same shape and color as his, though smaller.

Ben crouched to look at it closer. “May I…?”

“Sure.”

He tentatively reached out and ran his fingertips over it. Rey twisted herself so she could watch Ben ponder over the mark. After a long while, Ben finally looked up into Rey’s with a pained and teary-eyed countenance.

“This…this is why I didn’t come back.”

“Pardon?”

Ben, still visibly affected by his sudden realization, sat down where he crouched and patted the ground next to him. “I’ll…try to explain.”

Rey hesitated for a moment before giving in and sitting beside Ben, leaving a good six inches between the two of them and hugging the stack of his folded clothes to her chest. The air around them was cooling and Rey’s coat only did so much. She began to shiver.

Ben grabbed his skin, unfolded it, and drew it again around his shoulders. He looked at Rey, faltered for a beat, and opened his seal skin. “Do you want to…?”

“Huddle? ...Yes.” She gave up on having any semblance of pride, scooted over, and let Ben wrap his arm around her and pull her closer to block out the wind. When dry, Ben was a furnace. His body heat quickly warmed Rey up.

Once they were comfortably settled with the pelt pulled tight around them, Ben took a deep breath and avoided Rey’s eye contact while he began his explanation.

“’Selkies’, as you call us, are, how do you say it? Ah—creatures of habit. We have a natural and strict…set of rules we must abide by. ‘Don’t lie.’ ‘Don’t stay out the water for too long.’ ‘Don’t lose your pelt’—“

“—‘Don’t lose your pelt?’ I’ve only heard about men stealing your skins.”

“It’s worse…than what your stories make it out to be. This is…my second skin. If I lost it, it would…it would be if like you were flayed alive and forced to live with your muscles fully exposed.”

“Oh…wow. Okay. Go on.”

“The night I called for you…I broke a rule: ‘Don’t ask for help from humans.’ Wasn’t being a good selkie,” Ben chuckled deprecatingly. “Very scared, in unbearable pain, wasn’t thinking straight. Didn’t want to die. Why I acted like I did to you. A coward.”

“Why did you pick me? Why not Armitage?”

“Didn’t know he was there until today. And I liked you.”

“Based on what?”

Ben hesitated.

“What?”

“You were kind to me…and you called me ‘handsome.’”

Rey picked her brain and remembered her sarcastic response to Rose’s remark equating Ben to an overstuffed burrito.

_Oh. Oh no._

Sensing Rey’s silence, Ben rushed into his next thought. “Not a good answer, I’m sorry…”

“How does breaking a rule tie into these marks?” Rey asked.

“When we disobey these rules, there are…consequences for us. This one is mine. Selfish.” Ben turned to look at Rey then with glassy eyes.

“We are forcefully bound to the human who aided us.”

“Meaning…?”

“I’m yours.”

Ben’s lower lip trembled and he took an unsteady breath. “Mine appeared five days after you saved me. Didn’t want to believe that this was happening. I…tried to leave you, to get as far away from you as I could so you wouldn’t have to deal with this…couldn’t force myself to go further than Doolin. Stayed in the caves for almost…six days? Couldn’t bear it any longer then. Went into town, asked people I knew about ‘Rey and Rose’ on Inishmore. Learned that you are college-educated and live in the United States. Learned that I’m…worthless to you,” he coughed to clear phlegm out of his throat. “There’s…nothing I can do that would be worth your time. Still…since this mark appeared, you won’t leave my thoughts. I want your everything: touch, approval, attention…but I mostly want to make you happy. And…I’ll never be able to, no matter how hard I try. Human and selkies will always live…incompatibly.”

“Ben…” Rey wrestled with a tangled ball of emotions in her stomach in that moment, but compassion won out. She went to cup his jaw and her palm touched wet, velvety skin.

“My elders tell me that you’ll be the only person I’ll ever feel this way about in my entire life. You don’t have to bear that part of it at least. You can move on. Love other people,” Ben leaned into her touch with a shuddering sigh. “A…rough translation of what my people call this punishment is ‘marriage between jellyfish.’ Nothing but…stinging. Painful for everyone. All my fault. I’m…really sorry.”

“Hey. _Hey_. Stop apologizing. I was part of a storytelling group in college.” Rey ran her thumb along his jawline. He pressed more weight of his head onto her palm. “There’s always a way out of these predicaments in the legends.” She moved her hand down his throat and lightly touched the slightly raised scar across the hollow.

“Are you healed?”

“Almost. Still aches sometimes.”

“That’s good to hear.” Bracing herself, Rey ran her knuckles down his sternum. He trembled under her touch.

“Just wish…I wasn’t the one you were forced to do this with,” Ben mumbled.

“Why?”

“I’m a ‘hooded seal.’”

“And?”

“If you have to go through this, you…deserve a truly attractive ‘selkie.’ A ‘grey seal.’”

“ _What?_ ” The exclamation came out a raspy bark. “Do you _know_ how excited I was when Rose told me that a _hooded seal,_ my favorite type of seal, mind you, was on the island? You didn’t stumble upon me by chance. I went out in the middle of a rainstorm to find you. I also have six videos of you sleeping on the beach from when you took a nap on my phone that I watch almost every night before bed because they are so cute.”

Ben blinked in surprise.

“You’re charming as a seal and amazingly handsome to me as a man. So, _shut up._ ” Feeling recklessly brave all of the sudden, Rey wrapped her arms around his middle and haphazardly side-hugged him to her. After a moment’s hesitation, Ben reciprocated the action, this time making it into a proper hug. She listened to his fluttering heartbeat in his chest for a while before continuing. “Ben. Is there even the _smallest_ chance we can get ourselves out of this punishment?”

“Maybe…?” Ben spoke into her neck.

“Well, then we have about two and a half months to figure it out. I would rather go through this with you, someone who likes humans, than any other being that lives in the sea. I will _not_ leave you here to suffer alone. We will find out the solution and…absolve ourselves of this ‘jellyfish marriage.’”

Ben was silent, and then finally let out a strangled sob in response. Except for occasional hiccups, Ben was a remarkably quiet crier with his face buried in the fabric of her coat. Rey let him weep, alternating between running her hands up and down the sides of his torso and thighs and then rubbing small circles onto his lower back. She found herself cooing and murmuring silly pet names and words of praise to Ben, something that seemed to soothe him.

It was well past the end of Klaud’s set before Ben calmed. They didn’t discuss anything more of substance, instead huddling together in Ben’s pelt and turning their attention to the skies. Ben was impressively knowledgeable about the night sky because it was by the moon, stars, planets and tide that he was able to navigate the seas.

Finally, Rey looked at her phone. Twenty minutes until pick up—the ferry and a likely drunk and exhausted Armie and Rose were going to be in view any minute now.

“Ben.”

“Hm?”

“I need to leave. Are you going to get dressed again or are you going to head back out to sea?”

“Sea. Why?”

“Will you come back to Inishmore? We need to start making plans as soon as possible.”

“…Yes. In a few days, I promise.”

“Promise-promise?”

Ben nodded. “Promise-promise. Could you take my clothes back with you?”

“Sure. I’ll even wash them.”

“Thank you.”

“…Could you do me a favor too?”

“What is it?”

“I want to see you as a seal again.”

He searched her face before responding, caution still evident in his eyes. “I…am going to trust you starting tonight. Completely. Can I do that?”

“Of course.”

“Then I will change for you.”

Rey unpeeled herself from Ben’s heated cocoon and stood, helping Ben up afterwards. He again pulled his black masked face over his own head and gathered his trailing skins tightly around his body before walking to the edge of the pier’s shelf. Rey trailed behind him.

He paused before jumping off and looked back at Rey. “Goodnight, Rey?”

“Goodnight, Ben.”

Ben flashed her a breathtakingly brilliant smile and then pencil-dived into the waters below.

Rey put his clothing down on a dry patch beside her and kneeled on the edge of the shelf, waiting for signs of life to reemerge. After about two minutes of waiting, bubbles broke the surface and the familiar, hazel-eyed hooded seal with his large hood popped up right at her knees. He inflated his hood and let out a “hork.”

“Hi buddy!” Rey’s heart swelled at the sight. He was humongous when up this close, dwarfing his human form in comparison. She gingerly held out her open left hand. The seal deflated his hood, unsealed his nostrils with a huff and took several noisy sniffs. He pressed the side of his face into her hand and made a series of low trills under his breath. His fur was short and fuzzy like a pit bull’s, just as Rose predicted, but it also felt slightly oily. Rey gave Ben a couple scratches on his cheek and under his chin which he seemed to enjoy with closed eyes. She withdrew her hand as she heard the sound of a boat motor.

“My boat is coming. You get going now. Be safe. See you soon.”

Ben gave her one last lingering gaze before turning around and diving under.

***

Armie and Rose found Rey waiting for them at the dock. Both of them were so completely sloshed that they failed to notice the stack of men’s clothing held against her chest and a large black pair of men’s Oxfords dangling from her fingers.


	10. St. Edmund of East Anglia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, 
> 
> Happy one month anniversary since the publication of this fic's first chapter! Thank you for your continued support. <3 This chapter focuses on another character of wasted potential from the sequel trilogy: Maz Kanata. You hire the immensely talented and beautiful _Lupita Nyong'o_ to play your elderly alien grandmother information expositor in a mo-cap costume? What. The. Fuck. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“Where _did_ you go last night?” Rose, armed with her jar of coconut oil and a roll of toilet paper, made a valiant effort to remove the makeup that she fell asleep in last night in their room’s main mirror. Drinking heavily on a weeknight was probably not the best move. Rose looked tired and very hungover with dark circles under her eyes. It was a good thing that she didn’t have work until the afternoon.

Despite sleeping in a bit and a long cold shower, Rey didn’t look much better, though her tiredness was attributed to comforting a deeply remorseful selkie who got them both entangled in some sort of magical curse. With a cup of caffeinated black tea by her side, Rey tried to focus on darning a hole in her hiking sock at their card table while her hair air dried instead of on Rose.

Rey dreamt again of Ben’s corpse on the rocky shores last night after Armie dropped them off at two in the morning. He laid on his stomach with his head resting to the side. This time, it looked like someone methodically removed the skin from where the mark that bound him to Rey was on his body. The open, blobby wound laid bare the lean red muscles and yellow granulated fat underneath. Squirming maggots swarmed around it, chewing away at his rotting tissues. This time, Rey’s body didn’t wake her up, instead forcing her to watch imaginary blue bottle flies lay eggs in his opened mouth and on his clouded eyes. When she woke, a glance at her mark confirmed to her that it had transitioned from the color of red wine to a deep angry maroon overnight.

“Kyle and I went on a walk.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Where to?”

“To the pier.”

“Rey.”

“What.”

“What did you _do?_ ”

“We talked.”

“About what?”

“We traded stories about what we did this summer. We’ve met previously.”

_Marriage between jellyfish? Yeah, right. Rose wouldn’t believe that._

“Well, I didn’t know _that_. Unless you’ve been lying to me for four years, you haven’t been in the UK since you were five. How could you have met him?”

“We met and chatted for all of somewhere between five to ten minutes when we visited Renvyle Beach in July. You were gone to buy our lunches then. I remembered his face because it’s so unique and he recognized mine in return.” The weight of the truth pressed against Rey’s chest, but she wasn’t ready to tell a cautious Rose the whole truth yet. She couldn’t outrun the lies, but she tried to keep them as small and simple as possible in the hope that Rose could forgive her when the time came likely sooner than later.

“You know,” Rose attacked her eyes in a vain attempt to wipe off her smeared eyeliner and mascara with a gob of coconut oil, “the only reason I didn’t go full ‘mother hen’ on you last night is _because_ I’m trying to lighten up and be more ‘fun and outgoing’ like you wanted me to be in college. That’s why I stayed with Armie and his crew the entire time instead of trying to find you.”

“I had my fully charged phone on me. It was still at 55% when we met back up. If you needed me, I was a call away.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to get at, Rey. If you’re going to be gone, just _let me know._ I can’t read people’s minds, even yours. Take _thirty seconds_ to send me a text.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Just…don’t do it again, okay?” Rose, face covered in tinted black oil, looked over at Rey with one opened eye. Rey avoided eye contact. “I trust many people that we’ve met in Ireland, but you’re the one person I can fully rely on here. You can’t simply _agree_ to go on a walk with a near stranger. If you vanished or were found dead last night, I don’t know what I’d do. I’d probably make a deal with the devil to grant me the immunity to march down to hell and drag you back myself. By your ankles, let me add.”

“I’ll do better. I promise.”

“Alright.” Rose took a wet cloth to wipe away at her oiled lips to remove her faded lip stain. “Oh, by the way, your phone was being obnoxious while you were in the shower. Might want to check it.”

Rey went over to where her phone was charging on the makeshift bed stand next to her bunk. On the lock screen, it showed that Mas called her eight times in the last thirty minutes. She listened to the three voicemails that her boss left.

_“Hi Rey. Could you call me please? I have something important to discuss with you that needs to be addressed immediately. Thank you!”_

_“Rey, I really need you to call me as soon as you’re able. Thank you!”_

_“Rey. Call me. Now. This can’t wait.”_

Rey’s palms grew sweaty with each iteration of the short voicemail and the mounting urgency in Mas’ usually calm and even voice. Rey redialed Mas’ number and held it up to her ear.

“Rey.” Mas uncharacteristically answered the call in a single dial tone.

“Hi Mas—”

“—Get down here and meet me in my office. Now.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

Rey ended the call and ran to throw her fleece jacket over the tank top she was wearing.

“Everything okay?” Rose asked as she stripped down for her shower.

“I hope so.”

***

To call Mas’ workspace an office would be a stretch. In truth, her boss’ workspace would be better described as a solid wooden desk with a hutch, a black leather swivel chair, and several metal filing cabinets shoved into a messy corner of the hostel’s comfy communal kitchen with its bare stone walls and large windows on the first floor. Mas sat in the said chair behind her desk as Rey entered the room.

“Lock the door behind you.”

Rey obeyed and then stood there in front of the door stupidly.

Mas was a short and compact woman whose feet didn’t touch the floor in her swivel chair. She was a beautiful older woman, with clear warm skin of burnt umber and naturally-worn hair. Only during the summers did she take it out of her trademark olive green silk scarf. Her wide face had just the faintest hint of wrinkles, leading to Rey never being quite sure _how_ old she was. Rey also wasn’t sure where Mas was from. Mas had a habit of namedropping places she’s lived in the past: near Diani Beach in Kenya, Istanbul in Turkey, Stratford-upon-Avon in England, directly on the Nile somewhere in Egypt, among many other destinations, but Rey found that it wasn’t wise to press Mas for personal information after several roundabout attempts. No matter where Mas had lived before, she had spent enough years in Ireland to have an Irish lilt to her voice and learned or retained fluent Gaelic.

“You called for me?” Rey said, lips dry.

“That I did. Rey, show me the spot on your leg again.”

Rey walked over to Mas and rolled up her plaid pajama pant leg. Mas hopped out of her chair, walked over, and crouched down with unexpected lightness and flexibility. She peered at the mark both through and over her coke-bottle lenses.

“This may be uncomfortable.” Mas pressed her fingers against Rey’s calf.

“ _Nocht do rún_ ,” Mas uttered under her breath. The spot where Mas touched her warmed suddenly, as if Rey put it directly under scalding hot water from the showerhead. Rey forced herself not to pull away as the searing sensation lingered horribly for almost a minute. She focused on Bebe, Mas’ large black cat, who now slept on his undersized cat bed placed on the right corner of the desk. He looked quite comfortable in his sleeping repose that revealed his cute belly (which he wouldn’t let Rey touch) and the heart-shaped patch of white fur on his chest. Finally, the feeling faded away and was replaced with a cool numbness.

“ _Dia ár sábháil_ ,” Mas swore, stood, and began wringing her hands. “Foolish boy. Stupid, stupid, sheltered boy. Rey, be honest with me.”

“Yes?” Rey swallowed.

“You saved the life of a hooded seal in the last month or so, correct? A big silver seal with a black head that later turned out to be a male selkie, yes? Tall, pasty, long black hair, weak chin, big nose, big hands, and big feet? Claimed his name is Beiricheart—or Benjamin, maybe Ben? If not those names, maybe something like Kyle?”

Rey paused, unsure what to say.

“Out with it, girl. Your life depends on it.” Mas’ voice took on a sudden severe tone, the type that makes one break out into a cold sweat.

“Y-yes—I did. He told me his name is Ben.”

Mas sat back down on her chair, upset and anger clearly evident on her face. She let out a string of curses in English, Gaelic, and a couple other languages that Rey couldn’t pinpoint. “He told me he came to this island visit _me._ He mentioned nothing about getting himself entangled with an American mortal girl who also happens to be my ward on the way. A—” Mas said something indecipherable in the back of her throat, “—too…Rey.”

“Yes?”

“You haven’t fucked him, have you?”

“I haven’t.”

“…You _are_ telling me the truth?”

Rey felt sweat roll down her spine. “I am. I haven’t had sex with Ben.”

“…Thank the gods.” Eventual relief flowed over Mas’ face and she leaned back in the chair. “A male selkie may not bring immediate bad luck like a gancanagh will, but they are almost as fertile as Donn Cuailnge himself—you would end up carrying his child, your human birth control methods be damned. Swear to me you will not sleep with him.”

Rey’s stomach clenched into knots and the nauseated desire to vomit emerged. “I won’t.”

“Swear to it.”

“I swear I won’t sleep with Ben.”

“Good. You’re lucky that he isn’t an each-uisge,” Mas shuddered. “He’s just a selkie too naïve for his own good. It will be a lot easier for me to help you two if you are only tied together by fair folk law and not by fair folk blood.”

“…Mas, how do you know about all of this?” Rey’s voice wavered.

Mas pulled out a piece of paper and began scribbling notes. “Despite the considerable knowledge that you have demonstrated to me concerning what the mortal scholars have written about _na daoine maithe,_ you remain ignorant of when you actually encounter one of their kind. Come, pull up a chair and sit. You look ill.”

Rey went to pull a dusty diner chair from the diagonal corner of the kitchen and dragged it over to Mas’ office to sit on. “What do you mean?”

“Little one, the beings you foreign mortals now like to call—” Mas covered her cat’s ears with her hands, “—‘ _fae_ ’ are everywhere, especially here in this country. We are just quite sufficient at hiding ourselves, even on a tiny island like Inishmore. I once considered myself among their ranks. I went by many names, but you might best know me as a _caoineag_.”

Rey froze. “A _banshee_?”

Mas wrinkled her nose. “More or less. But a retired one, love. Once one has experienced as many centuries as I have, the so-called ‘great men’ of the world become less and less great when one can compare them to their ancestors. There becomes less to grieve and wail over as you realize the foolishness of war and bloodshed, that is for sure. When the last mortal McKinley died, bless his soul, I took their surname, renounced the ways of the folk, and entered the human world.”

“Like Ben has?”

Mas paused and looked up from her untidy notes. “…Unlike my natural obligations to the mortality of a single bloodline from one particular clan, the mistress of the selkie is the immortal sea. They can never escape their primal urges to continually return to her. Though I have strong affections for running water, I live on the land. I was able to attend university and easily blend in with humans, an effort which I have been entirely successful in until _this_ happened. Your selkie can barely speak English, let alone successfully live with humans for years on end due to how anchored his kind is to their natural proclivities. Selkies are pitiful and vulnerable beings once out of the ocean, love. Easy to break and corrupt by both humans and other fair folk. All the more reason why the situation that you find yourself in is a dire and dangerous one.”

Rey stared at the old woman in front of her, Mas’ preference for green clothing making sense. “ _Why_ are you telling me all this?”

“Rey, you _deserve_ to know what you’re getting into due to Ben’s mistake. Until he comes back to Inishmore, know this: until you two manage to break your…marriage contract, you are the future _bean chéile an rí_ of the Northern Unseely Court, should the disgraced crown prince inherit the throne.”


	11. St. Bartholomew the Apostle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, 
> 
> Happy National Love a Tree Day! Here's a new chapter for your Saturday afternoon. I hope everyone has been safe and well. Keep fighting the good fight, whatever that fight may be in your life at the moment. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Two days later and with no Ben in sight, Rey finally got around to washing her mounting pile of laundry.

She liked the hostel’s laundry room. It was a tiny nook of a room on the second floor, one wall of it being the building’s original stone and mortar skeleton and the other three being more recently installed wooden walls. At some point, Mas decorated the room with a pine side table, an old wicker lamp, and a padded rocking chair across from the washer and dryer for guests to sit in while their clothes laundered. A vent for the hostel’s heating system was situated right above the chair, making it a cozy and warm place to hang out in during this offseason time. 

Now, Rey sat there to fold the freshly dried and still warm clothing in her hamper. Like her other chores, she used this mundane task to try to ward off the increasingly panicked thoughts concerning her situation.

Ben’s clothes were at the top of the pile. Rey picked up his cardigan and turned it this way and that in her hands. She noticed that it had been torn more than a couple of times on the sleeves, back, and stomach portion of the torso, but each tear was meticulously sewn back up with matching red thread. After brief deliberation, she pulled it over her head. It was obviously too big in the shoulders and too long in the sleeves, but Rey always had a preference for large outerwear. She hiked up the sleeves and ran her hands over the soft fabric down the upper arms.

_“I’m yours.” He really said that, hadn’t he?_

Rey hesitated, and then brought the front of the cardigan to her nose. Its embedded scent didn’t have quite the same smell as Ben’s bare skin—a layer consisting of the broken-in smell of tobacco smell and cheap lye soap covered what Rey had registered as Ben’s smell: the pleasantly briny smell of the ocean combined with the appealing scent of a freshly washed guy. For a man who lived most of his life as a seal, she was somewhat surprised that he didn’t have the usual overwhelming stench of seal colonies: decaying fish, sweaty bodies at the club and wet dogs. That smell, she supposed, would get in the way of a male selkie’s _modus operandi_ of seducing and impregnating lonely fishermen’s wives.

If Ben was a human that she happened to meet one night at the pub, Rey supposed that she found him physically attractive enough to take him home for a one night stand if she was feeling a bit reckless. If he was good in bed and could carry a decent conversation, Rey might keep him around for a little longer. Perhaps she would date him for a couple months before breaking it off, realizing that he was probably too old for her and she had her priorities set in her work and her own wellbeing. It’s what she was comfortable with. But now…

_A prince. A ‘disgraced’ prince. Of the unseely variety._

At first glance, selkies didn’t seem to be part of the unseely fae, but upon closer inspection, Rey supposed that they kind of were. They rarely seemed to seek out humans in a benevolent way, appearing to stick to themselves. When they willingly interacted with humans, at least in the stories, it was solely out of self-interest—to sire a child, to lure a young woman into the waters (depending on the interpretation, to either drown her or somehow transform her into a selkie), or stealing back a stolen pelt of one of their own. Some stories told of male selkies summoning storms with the capabilities to capsize fishing vessels. Based on their first meeting with Ben in his human form, Rey surmised that rumor might be true.

Why was he disgraced? Rey didn’t want to ponder over that question yet.

_‘His future bean chéile an rí.’_

Rey asked Rose to translate the words for her when she returned to their room after her first conversation with Mas.

 _A queen consort. Me. A human._ What?

The idea made Rey want to do nothing but run screaming towards the hills. She began looking up flights back to Boston last night, debating whether or not she should swallow her pride and ask Papa to buy her a ticket. At minimum, he’d be thrilled if she came back to the United States early and asked him to let her squat at his house until she found a roommate and an apartment. But then she recalled how Ben cried hot tears into her neck—and with a lump of guilt in her stomach, she closed the browser and went to bed.

If Rey knew that _this_ was in store for her, she might have let Ben die with a spear in his throat. If he could influence her emotions, what could other fae do? Surely they wouldn’t be too happy to learn that their prince fell in love with a human girl, cursed affection or not.

 _Would murdering me break the curse…?_ A violent shiver ran up her spine as she began to fold Ben’s jeans.

Mas refused to further explain what was going on until Ben swam back to Inishmore. Instead, she started to tether Rey closer and closer to her side by increasing Rey’s task list. Even in the evenings, Mas invited Rose and Rey to eat dinner with her in the kitchens. She prolonged their stay with promises of board games, stories, and discussions about the history of the island for the last two nights.

“Rey.”

Rey jumped at the sound of Mas’ voice and began to hurriedly remove the cardigan.

Mas held her purple hamper in her hands and made no comment as she caught Rey pulling a giant cardigan off over her head. She wore a long flowing silky seafoam green dress with a high empire waist that Rey had never seen before.

“Show me your mark.” Mas placed her full hamper next to the washing machine.

Rey stood without questioning Mas’ motives, rolled up her sweatpants, and let Mas probe the mark. After a couple minutes, Mas looked up into her face.

“I am correct. He’s near. Come, we must act quickly.”

***

Rey and Mas took Mas’ rickety old black van to the seal colony lookout point. Mas put the car into park and reached into the backseat, grabbing a folded serape blanket.

“Rey, you must follow my directions from now until we get back to the hostel. Understood?”

Rey bowed her head.

“Say it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Thank for you for your cooperation. Everything will be explained soon.”

Rey opened the door and hopped out of the passenger’s side. The golden hour right before sunset was upon them, illuminating the rocky outcrops of the beach with bronzed light. The grey seals were uncharacteristically absent from the beach despite the clear skies and relatively mild weather.

“Follow me, love.” Mas threw the blanket around her shoulders as if it were a giant scarf and climbed over the low fence that separated spectators from the seals.

Rey watched Mas expertly descend the high and rather narrow rock face down onto the beach. She looked back up at Rey. Noting her hesitation, Mas called back to Rey, saying, “Use my footholds. I will spot you.”

With a few words of encouragement from Mas, Rey safely made it down to the beach.

“Good woman.” Mas smiled her reassuringly. “Are you feeling well?”

“Y-yeah. Thanks.”

“Good.” Mas removed the blanket from her shoulders and folded it back up. “Go to the edge of the water and call for him. When you get him to shore, back up several meters until he’s well out of the sea.”

“I will.” Rey walked down to where the beach met the water, stopping about four feet from where waves crashed upon the rocky shore. She felt her anticipative heartbeat in her throat and wrists and cleared her throat before shouting into the watery expanse.

“Ben!? Are you there?” She shook against the cool gusts of wind off the water and zipped her fleece up all the way to her throat.

Rey waited for what seemed like an eternity before she heard his loud huff. Sure enough, Ben the seal surfaced about four yards offshore and immediately located where she stood on the shoreline.

“Hi bud!”

Ben let out a hork, but made no trills or any other sound that indicated positive emotions. He submerged again. From this distance, Rey watched his silvery frame make his way to the shallows. He emerged from the shore and Rey began to walk backwards as instructed. Ben followed on his short flippers, his wide hazel eyes trained on Rey.

“Lord Beiricheart.” Mas spoke from behind Rey.

Ben’s eyes flitted from Rey to Mas, who proceeded to hitch up her skirts and run around him. She stopped and stood behind the large seal, blocking his reentrance to the sea. Ben whipped his head around to stare at Mas. He opened his mouth, bared his teeth, and let out a loud growly roar. Mas let out a series of high-pitched screams in response that made Rey’s arm hairs stand on end.

“Stop that. It’s been two days,” Mas hissed. She proceeded to say something in the gravelly language that Rey didn’t understand, but that Ben obviously did. Ben stayed in his defensive posture, but trained his attention to her words. Mas switched to obvious Gaelic, continuing whatever she was saying in a stern, direct tone. Finally, she switched to English.

“Now, change.”

Ben whipped his head from Mas behind him to Rey before him and back again, confusion and betrayal apparent in his eyes.

“Don’t,” Mas said through gritted teeth. “You do it here. On land.”

Ben stopped baring his teeth and let out a string of babbling, incomprehensible syllables that sounded eerily like his human voice to Rey’s ears.

“We wait, then.” Mas shrugged. “Rey must see everything, including this.”

Rey licked her lips. “Please, Ben.”

Ben swung his head forward to Rey and sighed loudly.

“Mas—can I touch him?”

Mas shrugged. “If you get hurt, I will not hear of it.”

Rey nodded and sat crossed-legged on the pebbles underneath. Ben peered at her through one cocked eye.

“Come here?”

Ben hesitated and then inched over to her.

Rey patted her lap. “Rest your head here.”

Ben groaned throatily and obeyed, resting his giant head as best he could in her lap. Rey scratched his neck and hugged his head as best she could from where she sat.

“Change.” Mas commanded.

Ben’s entire mass quivered violently and he began wheezing loudly. Ben rammed his head into Rey’s torso, hitting her ribs at a bad angle and nearly knocking the wind out of her. Rey heard the ripping of flesh and felt the skin at his throat split in two in her palm. The seal rolled onto his slide and Rey observed that his skin continued split down his belly until it was sliced in half from his throat to his tail. Blood dribbled from the wound. The iris in his visible eye rolled back into his head. The now whitened eyeball deflated and sunk back into the eye socket. Inch by inch, Ben crumpled in her lap until the seal was flattened like a corpse after the pentup gasses of decomposition burst from the stomach. Another gut-wrenching rip opened up the red belly wound. A body fluid-covered Ben in his human form wriggled out of his seal skin. Once out, he rolled up into the fetal position and hugged his legs to his chest, breathing heavily with his eyes squeezed shut.

Rey froze with the now empty seal hood in her lap.

“Rey. Transformation under the sea allows for the pelt to be cleaned while he shifts between forms. When selkies are forced to shift on land, this occurs.” Mas poked at his spoiled skin with the toe of her shoe before going to kneel beside Ben. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Beiricheart. As your current bride-to-be, let Rey handle your pelt.”

Ben opened his eyes and looked ahead aimlessly, his feral stare seemingly returned.

“Ben,” Rey hesitated. “You can trust me still. I swear to it.”

Ben nodded once but evaded eye contact with Mas or Rey.

Mas smiled. “Good, we’re making progress.” She unfolded the blanket she held in her hands and wrapped it around his shoulders. Still in a state of shock, Ben unconsciously drew it around himself.

“Rey, could you dip his pelt into the sea to wash it off? I am going to start helping Ben back to the van. You will be safe while you possess it. ”

“…Okay.”

With a conflicting pile of emotions raging inside, Rey gathered the rumpled pile of seal skin in her arms and ambled down the shoreline a couple of yards to give Mas and Ben privacy. She glanced back only once before squatting down to submerge the pelt in the sea, seeing that Mas successfully got Ben to his feet and was already halfway back up the beach.

The inside of the raw selkie pelt was webbed with what looked like ragged fleshy white hypodermis and the outside was covered in a thick layer of oil. Now _this_ definitely smelled like a regular seal.

Rey plunged the pelt into the surf and immediately felt a strange sensation ripple through her fingers. When she removed the skin from the water, it came away spotless, dry, and without an overwhelming stench as Rey had encountered it before. Even the inside of the skin was scrubbed clean away like a tanned hide. She decided not to question the science (if there was to be any) behind the process, in the moment.

***

When Rey got back to the van, she found Ben asleep in the passenger’s seat, leaning against the window. Mas blotted at his forearms with a dry washcloth.

“Is…is he okay?”

“I just asked Ben to do something that’s extremely difficult and rather physically uncomfortable for his kind. He will feel much better once he wakes, I promise.”

“Why did you make him do _that_?”

“It is difficult to explain to humans because it looks so cruel, but forcible removal of selkie skin makes it easier for them to temporarily dissociate with the sea and curb their urges. It’s a horrible, but necessary next step as we figure out what to do in next four days.”

“He isn't in pain?”

“No. I am merely following orders that Ben’s mother entrusted me with should he ever end up in this situation. We will release him back to the sea after ninety-six hours, no matter what.”

Mas broke her concentration to look at paled Rey in the backseat. “Remember, child. As much as your ‘Ben’ and I may have affection and some level of comprehension towards how your kind works, we still belong to a world that runs on ancient laws that predate your own. Tread lightly and be ready to learn.” 


	12. St. Raphael

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, 
> 
> I started my job this week and as a result this fic will now be on a regular publishing schedule. :,) Thank you for your continued support, hope you enjoy the chapter.
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

When Mas and Rey got back to the hostel, the sun had dipped behind the trees. Rose gave Rey no indication that her schedule had changed for the evening, leaving some nerves tumbling about in her chest at the chance that she should see them helping a mysterious man inside in the hostel.

Ben, snuggly wrapped in white hostel shower towels, was still asleep with his head wedged in the gap between the car door and the headrest. Rey sat behind the passenger’s seat with Ben’s skin draped around her shoulders. It was overwhelmingly warm, but the weight it offered was strangely comfortable to her as she watched the back of his head, white stringy bits of something dried into his tangled hair.

When Mas parked at her space in the small gravel parking lot adjacent to the hostel, she turned to Rey in the back seat. Her eyes shown bright in the moonlight.

“Hold onto his skin for the meantime, will you?”

“Um, sure?”

“I hope to prevent assassination attempts with a combination of my protection, Beiricheart’s presence, and the skin’s influence. At least for in the meantime.”

Rey intertwined her fingers and squeezed to still their trembling. “Alright.”

“I’ll be up a good while longer setting up my house protection rituals and doing some research—do not leave the hostel until we meet back up again tomorrow morning. We will sit down and discuss everything then.”

“Okay. What time?”

“Let’s say 10:15 in the kitchen?”

“Alright.”

“Go ahead in. I’ll wake Ben and escort him in in a moment. Invert your jacket and run inside.”

Rey complied quietly, braced herself to open car door, and then opening it in a fury. She ran in through the lobby into the first floor hallway, stopping right in front of her room and hesitating before turning the knob. The door was already open.

Rose was sitting in front of their long mirror, doing some crazy experimental eye makeup with pastel eyeshadow and thick black eyeliner when Rey entered, quietly closed the door behind her, and locked it. A new podcast about museum curation blared from Rose’s phone speaker. Rey leaned against the door frame and waited for Rose to speak. Rose ignored Rey and continued trying to fix her eyeliner wing.

Finally, Rose paused the podcast on her phone and looked at Rey’s reflection in the mirror rather than at her directly. “Before I ask what is _that_ on your shoulders, do you mind explaining where you disappeared to this evening without sending me a text?”

_Shit._

“Or why you have men’s clothing in your hamper?”

Rose waited for a response.

“Or why Mas has suddenly begun inviting us to dinner and to play games of cribbage in the evenings? Why she looks at you like you’re about to crumble into dust?”

Rose, sensing Rey’s continued refusal to speak, rose and went over to Rey’s bunk. She reached into Rey’s pillowcase and pulled out the sweatshirt. She unfolded it, spread it out against her chest, and pointed to the Ben’s blood stains.

“ _Or about the night you stopped wearing this to bed?_ ”

Rey’s legs gave out from under her.

Rose rushed over to Rey and dropped to her knees beside her. “Rey. What’s happening?” Her voice wavered with emotion.

“…Armie’s friend, Kyle. I didn’t meet him at Renvyle.”

“Yeah?”

“He’s a selkie that I saved about a month ago.”

Rose stared at Rey before giving her a sarcastic smirk. “…You’re messing with me.”

Rey shook her head and Rose’s expression went blank.

“Come,” Rose stood and helped Rey up. “If you’re telling me the truth, you get to tell it over a cup of tea.”

They transitioned over to the card table. While Rose made tea by unethically sticking their mugs of water in the microwave, Rey began word-vomiting the entire truth to her best friend. Tears didn’t come but the emotions came in droves. Rose was uncharacteristically quiet and pokerfaced while listening to Rey’s story, only interjecting trice to ask two timeline questions and to offer Rey a well-deserved Jaffa Cake.

“…And that’s it.”

Rose was quiet for a while before speaking, focusing on stirring her now cold tea.

“So…fae exist, you’re being forced to marry a selkie prince, you’re wearing his skin, and now other people of the mound may or may not be trying to kill you?”

“From what I understand, yes.”

“Well, _shit._ ” Rose leaned back in her chair. “I’m still pissed, but I kind of understand why you didn’t tell me about all this.” She rose and went to her chest of drawers. Opening her underwear drawer, she rummaged around and pulled out a box of nails.

“This. After dinner, we will take an hour and put iron into every pocket we can find in our outfits. Then, we will refold all of our socks and underwear to be inside out. It is the least of what we can do right now to protect ourselves. After that, we will go to bed and worry about all of this shit in the morning after your meeting.”

***

At 5:30 the next morning, Rey with a bruised tailbone found the first floor toilet to be broken as she attempted to flush. When the water swirled but didn’t get sucked under, she uttered a curse and hoped it wasn’t because of Rose and her expensive personal stash of luxurious toilet paper instead of the two ply Mas preferred them to use due to the building’s plumbing.

_Thank god it was only pee._

Rey stomped up the stairs to grab the plunger from the maintenance closet in the second floor hallway when she saw him.

Ben was wide awake and standing in the hall, oblivious to Rey’s mild commotion. He stared out of the long window of crown glass that looked out onto the sea. It lined the second stairs hallway from the stairs to the bathrooms and laundry room on the other end. Rain began at sometime during the night, and the waters outside looked dark and stormy in response.

He was naked ( _no surprise_ , Rey mused) but clean—Mas must have somehow gotten him in the shower this morning or last night. Ben had pulled the oversized bedsheet of his bed and wrapped it around himself, much in the same way he held his skin. It trailed behind him like a short bridal train. The clean early morning light through the grey clouds lit up his profile.

“Ben. Good morning.”

Oblivious Ben startled and whipped his head around to see Rey leaning on a guest room door frame. He visibly relaxed once he saw who it was.

“How are you feeling?”

Ben bit on his lips and considered her carefully. He finally shrugged and looked away. “Not badly, I guess.”

“Mas saw my mark and put two and two together.”

Ben finally gave Rey a quick glance. “Friend in Doolin told me you worked for Mansa. Because she was there and I knew she could protect you…I worried less that I should...because thought I could figure it out by myself. Didn’t want to worry you.” Ben shook his head. “Have every right to be angry with me.”

“You neglected to tell me who you were though. That seems to be just a little bit important.” Ben cast his eyes downwards in shame. “And that by asking for my help that all of the unseely fair folk now recognize _me_ , a mortal, mind you, as a consort.”

“...Didn’t want to scare you either.”

“Well, you failed. I have nightmares.”

“...Figured.” Ben gave her a sad look that nearly broke Rey’s heart. “I’m sorry.”

“No apologizing, remember?” She let a small smile escape despite her profound internalized frustration.

“Sor— _Ah_.” Ben grimaced at his blunder.

“I still haven’t given up on breaking this thing we have, but in the meantime…Ben...am I in as much danger as Mas thinks I am?”

“Um…Mas speaks better English. Will make sure she explains everything today. But you are safe, now. With me.”

“You swear to it?”

Ben nodded once.

“…Is Rose safe…?”

“Rose lives with you, yes? Still sleeping in the hostel?”

“Yes.”

“Not leaving the hostel anytime soon?”

“She doesn’t have work today.”

“Good. Then Rose is also safe.” 

Rey let out the breath she’d been holding in a loud, long sigh. “Fine, then.”

Ben shifted in his bed sheet and drew it closer to himself in the silence between him and Rey.

“...Do you want your clothes back?”

“Please?”

“Where did Mas put you in the hostel?”

“Room 2B.”

“I’ll meet you there after I fix the toilet downstairs.”

“Yes.”

After a successful twenty minute battle with the toilet downstairs, Rey retrieved Ben’s clothing from her room. She paused in front of his door and knocked.

“Rey?” She heard Ben call for her. “Come in.”

Ben, still in his bedsheet but now wearing glasses, sat on the queen-sized bed placed in the center of the room, backlit only by the thick-glassed windows behind him. He read a book in his lap—some old thick novel on nineteenth century horse races or something equally as thrilling that Mas had decorated the room with. The quilt was rumpled at the foot of the bed.

“You wear glasses?”

Ben closed the book but held his place with his pointer finger. “A bit…nearsighted. Not as bad as when I am a seal though. I rely on other senses as a seal. Mansa keeps some stuff for me when I visit her—these are one of those things.”

“Ah. Interesting,” Rey shifted from one foot to another. “Where should I put these?” she indicated his clothes in her hands.

“There?” Ben pointed to the old pine dresser.

“Okay.” Rey placed the folded stack of clothes on top. She felt Ben’s eyes on her back and turned to face him. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Cool.” Rey yawned and stretched her hands above her head.

“Tired?”

“Yup. I’m going back to bed for a few more hours before our downstairs meeting with Mas.” 

“…Stay? Rest with me?” The questions came out shyly and softly.

“What?”

“Please. Missed you a lot.”

“It’s been three days and you barely know me,” Rey said, crossing her arms.

Ben gave her an uneasy half-smile. “I know. Still. Would like to get to know you. Be friends, at least. Make this situation more pleasant.”

“If I agree to sleep here with you, I expect no funny business.”

“Of course. I will…obey you. Whatever you say.” Rey watched as a very pretty pink flush creeped up his features. “Part of the punishment.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

“Fix your sheets, then.”

Ben raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he put the book on the nightstand and pulled off his glasses, resting them on top of the book. He unpeeled the sheet from around himself and with a flourish spread it back out on the bed. Scooting over, he sat cross-legged so close to the edge of the bed that Rey feared he might fall off.

“Hard again?”

“Yes.” Ben, looking down at his crotch, sighed as if frustrated with himself.

“It’s how the body works. I’m not offended.”

Rey removed her flip-flops and placed them beside the door. She climbed onto the opposite end of the bed and rested her back against the headboard.

“Ben, lay down.”

Ben obeyed and laid down to rest on his side, facing away from Rey but still precariously perched on the edge of the bed.

Rey also laid down on her side and faced away from Ben. She pulled the sheet out from under Ben with some help and drew it over them. She unzipped her jacket pocket and retrieved her phone. “I’ll set an alarm for 9:30?”

“Hm.”

After setting the alarm and putting her phone on the other nightstand, Rey laid there and listened to Ben’s still-awake breaths.

After about ten minutes of trying to rest, she turned to face his back. The sheet rested up to right below the V of his hip, allowing Rey to stare at his muscular back in the pale morning light. He was obviously bulkier than the competitive swimmers Rey knew, leading Rey to wonder how a selkie’s exercise in seal form translated to their fitness in human form or if being strong and muscular was all just an inherent feature of being a captivating creature of folklore. At this distance and under this natural light, Rey only now really noticed the short white scars that dotted his shoulders.

_Where could those be from?_

The urge to touch him suddenly overwhelmed her.

“Ben?”

He looked at her over his shoulder.

“Want me to spoon you?”

“What?”

“Hold you.”

His answer was almost immediate. “Yes. Please.”

“Get away from the edge of the bed then.”

Ben backed up in bed until Rey could pull him close to her and wrap her arm around his middle. He pressed his spine and butt against her front. She continued to marvel at how soft his skin was, running her hands over his ribcage. Ben let out a hum of contentment in response.

“Happy?” Rey underestimated the task of playing big spoon to a man of Ben’s size. She stuffed two pillows under her head to get comfortable.

“…Yes.” He covered her hand with his and pressed it open-palmed to the middle of his sternum.

“Good.”

They laid there in silence for a spell, Ben rubbing and caressing Rey’s hand. Rey fell into a light doze—this large heater-type guy was a gift from heaven in this hostel that Mas constantly kept on the cooler side.

“…Rey.”

“Mm?” Rey didn’t bother opening her eyes.

“Do you have my skin?”

“Yes. Why?”

“If…if you wanted to, you could hide it from me.”

“I’m giving it back to you in a few days. If you need it earlier—” Rey yawned again, “—let me know.”

“No. For longer than that. Could…adjust to living on land. With you.” Ben pressed Rey’s hand to his throat and she felt the vibrations of his voice through her palm.

“Oh hell no. Not happening on my watch.”

“Even if I wanted you to?”

The question hung heavy in the air.

“Ben, your hormones and/or this curse of yours aren’t making you think straight.”

“If I begged?”

Rey stroked the corner of his jaw with her pointer and middle finger. She then gently and slowly brushed her thumb back and forth against his bottom lip. He tensed and let out a noise somewhere between a stifled moan and a whimper in response. Rey pressed the side of her face into the middle of this back between his shoulder blades and tried not to laugh at how cute he was like this.

“No, Ben. I wouldn’t do that to you, even if you begged me.”

“…Okay.” Ben squeezed Rey’s hand again and moved it to back to the bottom of his sternum.

“Get some sleep. We have a lot of discussion ahead of us.”

Rey stayed awake as Ben finally fell into a deep sleep before dozing off herself to the sounds of his steady breathing and the raindrops on the roof. 


	13. St. John of La Verna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Happy National Creativity Day! Is it almost June already?! It is crazy how much time flies. I hope you and your loves ones are safe and doing okay during these times. I hope you enjoy the chapter too.
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Rey’s alarm went off exactly as instructed at 9:30. She groaned and went to reach her alarm on the nightstand to turn it off. During their early morning snooze, Ben shifted from being her little spoon to turning over to face her on his side, pressing his face into her neck, and wrapping his long arms around her middle. Rey settled back into the position she woke up in and Ben, still seemingly asleep, subconsciously moved to accommodate her, resting his cheek against the slope of her clavicle with a comfortable sigh. His breath came out in hot little puffs against her skin.

 _Five more minutes_ , Rey told herself as she stroked his hair.

Like his skin, Ben’s hair was dandelion fluff soft, more like the belly hair of a long haired cat or a newborn baby’s first locks than that of an adult man’s. He didn't even have the fine-strained hairs usually required for such a texture. She tucked a strand of it behind his ear. It was large, stuck out and had attached earlobes. It gave him a boyish quality that she had only previously gotten glimpses of in his smile.

_Ah, shit. He is cute._

She cradled the shell of his ear in her hand and ran her thumb along the ridge of it. Ben shifted in his dozing and tilted his face to hers. He slept very seriously, with a “no nonsense” expression, furrowed brows, and lips firmly pressed together.

_I guess this is the face of a future king._

Rey smoothed out his mussed eyebrows and traced his hairline from the middle of his forehead to his jawline on either side with both hands. The tension in his face visibly lessened with her touch.

Rey stroked his cheek with one hand and felt a sudden strong surge of protectiveness come over her. Big and strong, but at the same time incredibly helpless with kind eyes, asking Rey to hide his skin so he could stay with her while undoubtedly itching to turn back into a hooded seal. Her frustration from the last several days had fizzled out of her since her early morning bathroom run. An overwhelming sense of compassionate pity layered on top of her protectiveness.

He had pulled the bedsheet completely off during their rest. Rey looked down the broad plane of his back to where his large mark colored his pale skin starting at the small of his back. The angry purple from last night's rescue had faded back to a port wine stain color yet again. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not, but her own mark felt unusually warmer than the rest of her skin despite the coolness of the room.

She traced the cupid’s bow of his lip with her thumb. Like the rest of him, he had amazingly soft lips.

_With this curse, he’s mine. Forever mine...at least for now, in this moment._

With a strong curiosity and without much thought, Rey impulsively leaned forward and pressed a feather light kiss to the corner of Ben’s partially opened mouth. The kiss lasted no more than three seconds before she realized her mistake.

Ben opened his eyes, jerked back, and immediately sat up. He quickly drew the sheet again around himself self-consciously. Rey froze for what seemed like five minutes and stared at Ben, his bed head now tumbled down and partially obscuring his face.

“You were awake…?” An overwhelming sense of guilt instantly replaced Rey’s curiosity.

_What the fuck, Rey._

“Since the alarm.” Ben nodded but dodged eye contact. He shifted his weight and hardened his face in discomfort.

“Are you okay…?”

“About to come.” The words came breathlessly.

“I…” Rey hesitated. “I overstepped my boundaries.”

Ben shook his head and opened the sheets, revealing his entire front to Rey. True to his word, his slightly curved dick was painfully hard and throbbing with several prominent veins evident down the shaft. Like that night on Doolin’s pier, he stared at it in a curious and rather baffled manner. A several beads of clear pre-ejaculate dripped down the head. 

“One moment,” he huffed while pushing back his hair.

The pronounced muscles in Ben’s thighs twitched and shuddered as he fought to stave off his orgasm. As his breathing became even, he grew more flaccid and his dick flopped onto his right thigh after about three minutes of straining.

“…Embarrassing.” Ben finally looked back at Rey with a small smile on his lips, the pretty rose blush reemerging to color his features. Rey noted how _easily_ he flushed, unlike any other man she’d ever met. “Been years since I felt _that_ outside of mating season—not that I participate in it—”

“I’m _so_ sorry—” Rey overlooked Ben’s attempt to humor the situation. She felt utterly disgusting at the fact that she just tried to kiss a defenseless, sleeping person without their consent. Tears began to prick at her eyes. 

Ben reached for Rey’s left hand and took it, intertwining their fingers. “No…” Ben’s voice was cautious, but warm and gentle. “Happy.” His smile faltered. “Thought…thought you might hate me.”

“That’s not true at all,” Rey swallowed a lump in her throat and squeezed his hand. “I’m not sure what I feel, but I definitely don’t hate you.”

“I…want your kisses. Dream about them. But—” he carefully searched for the words, “we can’t…fuck.” Ben’s brows knitted together when he landed on the word that was the essence of what he wanted to say but not in the way that he intended to say it.

Rey let out a bitter laugh. “I know. Mas told me everything.”

“In our world, kisses are also strange…the action itself has power. Don’t try again, please?” Ben asked reluctantly with a thick throat. “At least for now.”

“Absolutely, I won’t. I’m sorry—”

“Only because…don’t want to put you in danger with our ways. Right now, want you to like _me._ As much of me as you can. Also…don’t want it to be only physical between us.”

“Me too—I want you to like me as well. And…I’m just so I’m freaked out about all of this. Let me know what I can do to avoid as much of this…stuff as I can. I’ll respect your boundaries too.”

“Am glad you understand. Hope you don’t change your mind when…Mas translates.” Ben, voice tinged with melancholy, untangled their fingers and pressed Rey’s fingertips to his lips. Not in a kiss, but more like a prolonged nuzzle. The mere delicate contact caused an unexpected shiver of pleasure to rush through Rey.

“But…you didn’t do anything. Am really happy.” Ben made direct eye contact with Rey and flashed her a cheeky grin with pointed eyeteeth.

“Come,” Rey, heat climbing up her face, quickly changed the subject. “Let’s get you dressed.”

“Rey…this morning…” Ben reached for his glasses and used his chin to open the temples before putting them on. “Am serious. Hide it.”

“Never.” Rey hopped out of his bed and grabbed his stack of clothing from the dresser. “Don’t bring that up again. I won’t.”

Ben sighed in temporary defeat and took what Rey offered to him. Rey turned around courteously out of habit for him to dress.

After a spell, Ben broke the silence. “Rey…look at me.”

“Why should I?”

“…Because I’m ‘handsome.’”

Rey turned and there was dorky Ben, now in his glasses, plaid underwear, and white undershirt, standing proudly with his hands on his hips.

“You’re such a _brat_.” Rey grabbed his red cardigan on the bed and pulled it over his head, leaving Ben to find the sleeves.

“Just for you.” Ben, now with his cardigan successfully on, gathered Rey’s face in his large hands and pressed his forehead to hers.

Rey wrapped her arms around his hips and pulled him to her. She felt his partial erection press against her stomach. “What if I prefer good boys?”

Ben rubbed the tip of his nose against hers. “Then I’ll be your ‘good boy.’”

Rey laughed, this time genuinely. “Good answer, cutie. I will hold you to it.”

Ben pressed his chin on her shoulder, rested his cheek against her neck and made a series of rumbling noises in his throat.

“Is that your attempt at the ‘trilling’ sound you do as a seal?”

Ben nodded, not moving from where he hid his face from her.

Rey began to finger comb the tangles from the back of his head. “Get your pants on. We need to get downstairs and meet with Mas.”

***

Mas, tan apron on, hair back in a green hair wrap, and ladle in hand, waited for Rey and Ben with a squat steel pot of oatmeal and an assorted selection of condiments laid out in small white ceramic bowls. As soon as the two entered the kitchen, Mas set to ladling the pot’s contents into two larger eggshell blue bowls and slid them down the table to where Ben and Rey settled in chairs beside each other.

“Eat. I start the discussion.”

Rey looked at the oats and felt her stomach begin to churn. She was about to push them away when Mas interrupted her, saying, “Rey. _Ith_. You must _eat_.”

Rey ran her tongue against her gums. “Is Rose still safe?”

“Yes. She was down here fifteen minutes ago and brought her breakfast up to your room. She does not plan to leave the hostel until this afternoon for Klaud’s.”

“Then pass the sugar down, please.”

Mas pushed the little bowl sugar cubes down the table. Rey caught it and used the tiny silver pair of tongs stuck upright in the pile of cubes to select two dark brown sugar cubes. She glanced at Ben, who seemed to enjoy his oats completely plain.

“To begin, I must reintroduce myself to you, Rey. I am Mansa McKinley, a _caoineag_ who has renounced the ways of the _aos sí—_ ” Rey noticed how Ben visibly flinched when Mas uttered this phrase, “and adopted the ways of man. Despite my renunciation of their kind, I cannot cut ties with the world of the folk unless I desire mortal death. As a punishment, the Northern Seely Courts and the Northern Unseely Court jointly appointed me as protector of the human residents of these islands several centuries ago. It is a position that I choose to take great pride in, even when I was unable to reside on these lands physically for many of those decades.”

“When I was a student in Dublin during the early 1970s, I met Lile, a Northern hooded selkie with a similar passion for the human world as I do. We bonded over our identities as folk pretending to be students among mortals, but she kept many secrets from me during our time together. She did not tell me that she was first in line to succeed to the throne of perhaps the most violent and dangerous court of our world. After graduating, we lost contact for several years. It wasn’t until the unexpected death of Bail, the selkie King of the Floes, did I learn that his eldest, crown princess Lile of the Frost, was in fact _my_ Lile. She controversially succeeded her father due to her true paternity and because of her compassionate stance on humans. We reconnected four years after her coronation, shortly before she became pregnant with Lord Beiricheart—”

“Ben,” Rey’s selkie interrupted. “Mansa, my name is Ben. Nothing more.”

Mansa gave Ben a small curtsey and smoothly transitioned back into her story. “—When Lile was pregnant with ‘Ben’ of Nilas. She would come to Inishmore and stay with me for a week or so at a time. Just like how the true hooded seal weans their young after only a few days, Lile sent Ben away much too early when she observed his aptitude for magic—a trait that very few selkies possess in any significant capacity. She hoped that her brother, one of those rare selkies with considerable magical talent, could nurture his talents and mold him into a worthy successor for the throne.”

Rey looked over to Ben, who glared into his bowl of bland half-finished oats. He easily bent the spoon he fiddled with in his hands.

“ _Theip ort,_ eh, Ben?”

“ _Tá a fhios agam gur teip mé,_ ” Ben hissed. He said more in the unknown tongue that caused his voice to turn deeply, dangerous, and gravelly. The way the words rolled off his tongue allowed him to continually bare his teeth as if he was an angry seal. Rather comedic as a human, but strangely threatening. Rey felt gooseflesh develop on her arms.

“Rey, let me translate for this broken-tongued _sea creature_ for you from the language of the fae—” Ben flinched again at Mas’ words, “—to English: I inherited my mother’s compassion for the mortal realm but I lack her talents to live in it. When I went to train with my uncle and his pod, I quickly learned that he lived in the Dublin Bay of the Muir Éireann. I mingled first with other folk like Mansa who lived among humans before beginning to interact with your kind. I abandoned my uncle after eight months and pledged my allegiance to a loose band of folk who task themselves with protecting mankind. In addition to all of the controversy that I inherited through my mother, the crime that led to me being excommunicated from my court was executing the assassination of a high ranking _far darrig._ He led one of the largest changeling rings in Ireland. Our world and the human world are better off without him.”

Mas shifted back to her own words. “The danger that follows Ben like a shadow stems from his mother refusing to name another successor to her throne.”

“Never wanted _this,_ ” Ben spat. “Unseely are scum.”

“I have asked Lile myself to consider other noble unseely fae and she refuses. As a result, many ambitious unseely folks hunt Ben like some sort of white stag. They think that if they can bring Lile her estranged son’s head or skin that she will appoint them as her heir or that they will be able to usurp the throne by some magical means. It’s based on nothing but baseless rumors that the queen has been unsuccessful in debunking. Lile entrusted me with watching over Ben as a result, which I have been doing an excellent job of…until now.”

Rey’s interjection into Mas’ story came out meekly. “How do I play into this equation?”

"The unseely desire to hunt, little one, is where your well-being is put most at risk."


	14. St. Christopher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Happy National Call Your Doctor Day! Stay safe and healthy. Once again, my outline requires a couple more chapters, but I think that's all I got for an update. Many apologies for being a couple days late to posting. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“For the North Unseely Court, having a human as their queen consort for their already disliked selkie prince would be rather like…if a prize-winning breed standard husky kept running away and coming back pregnant with the neighborhood mongrel’s puppies. The husky’s owner is now laughingstock among breeders for failing to contain their dog. The pups she bears aren’t pure huskies and thus monetarily worthless. The continual litters devalue the husky as a breeder as well. After all, what is the use of a dog who continually chews her lead in two and jumps over the fence to seek out the same mongrel? Easiest way to solve this problem and restore their reputation? Track down the mutt and kill it,” Mas shrugged. “Rey, you’re the mutt.”

“Who cares? We take many human lovers,” Ben grumbled.

“Never to wed and create legitimate heirs with, my lord. Tell me: as you are right now, could you bear to have another woman besides Miss Rey Johnson carry the children that your court expects you to sire?” Mas began spooning oatmeal into her own bowl.

“…No,” Ben said quietly after some thought, embarrassed by the admission.

“Rey, our laws dictate that you and your children would be next in succession for the throne should Ben pass before you. If a non-royal human without immense prestige or talent dirties the legitimate line of succession for the Northern Unseely Court, the consequences are dire. If you choose to wed this selkie or bear his children, I assure that you, Ben and your firstborn will be dead within seven months.”

Rey watched as Ben clenched his teeth and dug his nails into his opposite upper arm.

“If the court discovers that your coupling is the result of _pósadh idir smugairle róin_ …” Mas’ stony façade cracked as she grappled for an explanation. “…Should it get out, a self-induced curse such as yours is particularly strong evidence for Ben as an inadequate ruler due to the control and persuasion you have over him. Challengers for the throne will not stand for what they perceive as a selkie attached to a human’s puppet strings. Among the unseely, self-induced curses are also proof of weak bloodlines, especially among our royalty. They won’t go after just you and Ben. They will murder Lile, Lúcás, and the rest of your line’s allies. The hooded selkies keep other folk of the Northern Unseely Court from causing havoc in the human world. If Lord Ben’s line is overturned, it is beyond my abilities to foretell what may happen to mankind of the Northern Atlantic.”

“So, we have no choice but to break the punishment? We can’t find a way to live with it?”

“…Precisely, if you value your life. Earlier this week, I hoped that I could break it using my own knowledge and abilities, perhaps with Klaud’s assistance—”

“Klaud? Klaud O’Sullivan?” Rey interrupted.

Mas blinked in surprise. “—Haven’t I told you?”

“Tell me what?”

“He is a púca.”

“That managed to slip your mind, Mas,” Rey responded rather icily.

 _Rose, unknowingly close friends with a creature known as a morally ambiguous shapeshifter?_ She would freak. Rey resolved to let Rose figure that out on her own.

“My many apologies, child. Klaud is the oldest resident of the Aran Islands, existing here since humans first came to these lands and built the great ancient forts. He was one of the first of the unseely to renounce the ways of the good folk. I assure you, he is trustworthy for our cause.”

Rey tried to swallow but her thick tongue felt like it got in the way.

Ben spoke first in a firm, guarded tone. “Mansa, get to it. What do we need to do?”

Mansa made her way over to Ben and took his hand. She pressed his knuckles to her forehead and gave him an elegant deep curtsy at his side. She held the position for several moments before standing again and letting go of his hand.

“Lord Beircheart of Nilas. The renounced folk of the Aran Islands are too weak to undo a prince’s curse. We have reached out to your mother. You must return to court and wed your fiancée—not Miss Johnson. Your real fiancée. In exchange for your cooperation, the Cailleach has agreed to quietly sever your undesired ties to my ward.”

Ben stared at Mas in complete shock before finally speaking. “Isecá said I was free to refuse her. And I did that. Four years ago.”

“And Isecá is your last chance at restoring your reputation at court. She is still unmarried and willing to give you a second chance.”

Ben abruptly stood and slammed his hand down on the island. “Came to this island for Rey. Forcefully shifted for her. Here to break the ‘jellyfish marriage’ for her. So, you can’t break it, you compare me to a dog, and now you force me back to a place I hate?”

“Klaud will escort you to court on his back. Rey will remain here under my protection. When your ties are cut, Rey will no longer be in danger and you will be able to move on with your life.”

“Mas, b'fhéidir gur breá liom í.”

“Ben,” Mas’ voice was firm and unyielding. “Rey isn’t going to wait for you. She starts work in a little more than two months. What could you possibly give her that she doesn’t already have or can obtain amongst her own kind?”

Ben’s brave face crumbled and he dropped his eyes to the kitchen tile.

 _I’m…worthless to you_. His words back on the Doolin pier echoed in Rey’s memory and she felt her stomach twist in knots.

“Mas—” Rey attempted to interject, to say it wasn’t true, but then the fear that caused her to nearly sneak back home climbed up from her stomach.

“Am I wrong?” Mas pressed, looking from Rey to Ben.

Ben shook his head and Rey’s heart broke a little.

“It’s settled, then. You will leave this afternoon.”

“You told me four days,” he said quietly, as if more to himself than to Mas.

“It is because the situation is direr that we originally thought it would be. Be ready to go by 16:00.”

Ben exhaled a shaky breath.

“Ben, I must exchange some private words with Rey now.”

He caught onto Mas’ hint, but hesitated at the door with his hand hovering over the doorknob. Mas said something in their ancient tongue in her cracking tone. Ben was about to protest when Mas reiterated her command in English.

“Leave.”

With a tensed jaw, Ben closed the door behind him with a furious slam that rattled the doorframe.

Mas finally broke, stress enveloping and rapidly aging her face. Rey noticed how heavy her eye bags looked and how deep her wrinkles pressed into her forehead. Mas rubbed her face with both hands, making a special effort to massage out the muscles in her jaw.

“I hate this. I hate this so, so much. I failed both of you. I cannot do anything but be the bearer of bad news. To think that I thought some herbs and fresh lamb blood would do anything.”

“Mas—”

“Rey, I must keep this brief. Besides the court politics, another reason that it is of utmost importance that this curse is broken is because spurned selkies are at great risk of becoming part of the Sluagh.”

“Becoming a restless spirit?”

“In their human form, selkies are many ways in poorer health than your kind. They are susceptible to high levels of stress and can die quickly from ‘broken heart syndrome.’ With nowhere for their soul to rest, they are fearless and often dangerous in their illogical postmortem form.” Mas poked at her now cold oatmeal, finally took a bite, and chewed unenthusiastically. “Ben, with his heightened magical ability, would be particularly problematic in this regard.”

“What can I do?”

“Keep doing what you’ve been doing. Be kind to him until he leaves. With luck, Ben will forget about you in a month or two and it will be easy for you to return to the states without guilt.”

“What should I do with him?” Rey felt foolish asking such a question, but she didn’t want to fuck up anything in the next few hours.

“I don’t know. Take him shopping or something equally harmless. Just don’t fuck him or take him near the water.” 

***

After she left Mas in the kitchen, Rey wandered through the hostel, calling for Ben like he was a lost cat. When she was close to finding Bebe’s chicken treat bag and start shaking it in an effort to have Ben emerge from his hiding spot, she found him in the laundry room. He sat on top of the dryer with his legs pulled up to his chest, perched there like an oversized pigeon.

“Ben?” He straightened up and let his legs swing down over the edge, but he made no move to hop off the dryer or to address or even look at Rey.

“Hi buddy,” Rey fell back on her favorite greeting. She approached her seal and parted his legs with no resistance on Ben’s part so she could stand between them, press her hips flush to the front of the dryer, and look up into his handsome face.

Ben wore no expression but looked just as tired and frail as Mas did. “There’s a comfy chair right over there. Why didn’t you sit in that?” With a slight moment of hesitation, she reached out and began playing with the hem of his cardigan at his hips.

“I feel comfortable being…vulnerable around you,” Ben spoke, choosing his words carefully. “Mas says otherwise, I know what I feel for you isn’t because of the curse. Liked you before then. When seal instincts made me act stupidly and respond slowly. Before…what happened with the spear, I’d been in my seal form for ten months—until you started talking to me, almost forgot what it was like to be… _this,_ ” Ben leaned back and indicated the entire length of his torso. “Harder to be in this form. Never stop thinking. Emotions are more complicated. Since meeting you, haven’t wept this much since I was…eight or nine?”

Rey gave Ben a sad smile, which he returned with a slight quirk of his lips.

“It’s been a weird time for me too,” Rey said. “Maybe it would be good for us to spend some more time apart.”

“Not that we’ve spent much time together to begin with,” Ben said with a bitter tone. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“…I know.” She agreed and pressed her forehead to his. She placed her hands underneath his shirt at the small of his waist above his hips as a comforting gesture. “But I think it’s best for both of us if you restore order to your court and get absolved of your punishment before you believe that what we are experiencing is anything genuine.”

Ben looked at Rey with an expression of hurt.

“You know what I mean,” Rey added quickly. “It’s good that your fiancée is willing to take you back.”

“I guess.”

“Is she another selkie?”

“Mhm.”

“Is she ‘hooded’ like you?”

He shook his head. “Grey.”

“I bet she is incredibly beautiful then. You lucky man!”

“Will make for an excellent queen consort. But she isn’t you. Only want you.” Seeing an opportunity, Ben nuzzled Rey’s cheek, creating skin-to-skin sensations of his lips and nose as gauzy and ghostly as a paper-thin butterfly.

Rey felt a brief surge of heat up her neck but suppressed the urge to comment on it.

She allowed Ben to press imagined kisses to her cheeks and throat for a spell before being snapped out of the enchantment by the sudden recollection of a grocery list she made last night. Rey needed eggs and spinach. “Say, tell you what.”

“Hm?”

“How about we make the most of it before you leave and go on a date this afternoon?” Rey reached up and tucked his hair back behind both ears.

“A date?”

“You know! Get to know each other while you’re completely dressed and neither of us are in immediate danger. I need to go to the grocery store and would like some company. We could go shopping for a sweater afterwards—if you’d like one for when you come visit Mas again in the future.” 

A suppressed smile replaced his solemn countenance. “There is nothing that I want more than a sweater that you pick out for me.” 


	15. St. John

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Hope you are well. Please stay safe and reach out to a loved one you haven't talked to in a while but keep meaning to! 
> 
> Please enjoy,  
> Lady

“Of course! I would be happy to.” Rey reached out to caress Ben’s cheek. He leaned his weight into her hand with an expression of relief. “I need to shower and change clothes before we can head out.”

“But you smell fine?”

“I’ll be quick.” Rey smiled. “Come with me. Let me reintroduce you to Rose.”

Ben silently considered Rey’s offer before giving her a slow nod. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him down off of the dryer. They stopped by his room to grab his glasses, rain jacket, and shoes before Rey led him downstairs to the first floor. Rey paused at her room’s closed door, debated what to do next, and settled on rapping on the door with her knuckles.

She heard her roommate climb down from the bunkbed, make her way across the room, and fiddle with the lock. Rose, dressed in an oversized T-shirt with the Mask of Agamemnon printed on the front and silky navy pajama pants, opened the door with a loud creak and jolted in surprise at the presence of an oversized man standing beside her roommate in the hall. She pulled her corded earbuds out, threw them over her shoulder, and leaned against the doorway to bar their entry. The podcast she was listening to came out of the speakers as reed-thin noise.

“Rose.”

Rose gave Rey an “I’m still quite upset with you but not here and right now” look and raised her eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“This is my selkie.”

“…This true, Kyle?”

Rey noticed that Ben reverted to his overly aloof body language from the pub and gave his hand a firm squeeze. He got the memo and nodded with a tensed jaw.

“My name is Ben. Not Kyle.”

“Oh, really?”

He licked his lips and gave another curt nod. “Mhm.”

“Rose,” Rey interrupted, “could you watch him for fifteen minutes while I shower and change?”

“ _Rey_ —”

“ _Please,_ Rose. I’ll catch you up on everything that’s happening tonight.”

“I don’t know if I can—” Rose let her guard slip and true fear briefly came over her features for all of half a second.

“Rose, look.” Rey looked at Ben. “Ben, can I…?”

Ben gave her a mildly questioning look but shrugged in acceptance.

“Kneel for me.”

He dropped to his knees as if suddenly weighed down with a ball and chain. Rey watched out of the corner of her eye as Rose’s eyes widened with barely concealed shock.

“Good boy.”

With a sigh, Ben pressed his temple to the side of Rey’s thigh.

“He’s a lamb, Rose. Even if he tried to do some sort of magic, which he won’t, I wouldn’t let him.”

“Labhraíonn sí an fhírinne,” Ben uttered in his thick, syrupy voice in a language that Rey couldn’t understand but that clicked instantly for Rose.

“Cén chaoi a raibh a fhios agat gur labhair mé Gaeilge?” Rose responded haltingly, her speaking skills clearly rusty.

“Draíocht.”

“I think his Irish is better than his English.” Rey laughed.

“Tá sí ceart.” Ben said in agreement.

Rose’s eyes shifted from Ben back to Rey. With her mind finally made up, she stepped aside. “Tar isteach. Come in.” She turned on her heel and hurried over to the kitchenette to prepare a mug of hot water for her visitor.

Rey made a move to step over the threshold, but stopped when she felt Ben grab her wrist.

“Help?” He pleaded quietly.

She grabbed his wrist in return. “Ben, stand for me.”

With a grunt, Ben got to his feet. Rey braced him so he didn’t stumble forward.

“Thank you,” Rey whispered into his ear. Ben gave her nothing but a small close-lipped smile in return.

“Tae glas nó tae—er, dubh?

“Tae glas,” Ben responded, ambling over to the card table and taking a seat.

While Rose was busy preparing tea, Rey gathered her bathroom supplies and quickly pulled together a rainy day date outfit. While eventually settling on the exact same outfit she wore to Armie’s birthday outing, she turned to address the pair of eyes bored into her back.

“Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Ben said lightly, looking down to study his hands.

“I’ll be right down the hall, won’t be long.”

“Mm.”

“No weird emotion-influencing stuff, right?”

“Of course not.” 

“Good. I’m going now.”

Rey sprinted down the hall, took the fastest shower she had ever taken in her life, dried down minimally, dressed, put her hair up in a ponytail, and ran back to her room with three minutes to spare. When she threw open the door, she was greeted by a grinning Ben and laughing Rose animatedly chatting loudly in Irish Gaelic over tea. 

“Rey.” Her name was a drop of amber in the way it formed on Ben’s lips.

“Welcome back! You missed Ben’s explanation as to why my hat spooked him so much as a seal.”

“Did I?” Rey said, surprise evident in her voice as to the scene she encountered.

“I look like a courtier that he grew up with who taught him navigation and survival skills. What the hell, am I right?”

“Hated her lessons. Would hide to avoid them,” Ben said, eyes twinkling. “Thought Rose was her. Err—‘seal brain’ at play. Not good at…croineolaíocht na n-imeachtaí?” He asked, referring to Rose.

“Chronology,” she responded.

“Ah—‘chronology.’ Bad at chronology.” 

“I’m glad you’re having a good conversation.” Rey felt her heart lighten tremendously at the sight of her best friend and her fiancé getting along.

 _Fiancé?_ She caught herself using the rather inaccurate terminology. _Not really. He won’t be even kind of that by the end of the day._

She caught Ben staring at her again, a giant grin plastered on his face. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

“Hm.” Rey smirked and went to grab the grocery list that she had plastered on the mini-fridge with a pickaxe-shaped magnet. “You ready to get going?”

“Mhm.”

“Come.” Rey offered her hand to Ben with a flourish. When he went to take it, she felt an alien surge of uncomfortable heat leap from the very tips of her fingertips to his as soon as their fingers brushed together.

“Ah!” Ben yelped. He drew back his hand, looking confused.

“What’s wrong?!”

Ben showed her his hand, palm side up. A crescent-shaped second-degree burn blistered along the heel of his palm.

“Protections...?” Ben asked through gritted teeth. “Rowan? Holly?”

“I—we put iron nails in our clothing last night.” Rey admitted.

“Ah…okay.” Ben went blank-faced and focused down on the wound. He pressed two fingers against the burn and whispered a phrase under his breath. The same pale blue shine, barely noticeable in their well-lit living quarters, emanated from his fingers.

“Do you want me to—?” Rey made a move to take the iron out of her pockets and touch him like she did with the spear wound.

“No. Don’t,” Ben said evenly. “Not dangerous. Can do by myself.”

When he removed his fingers, the burn had healed over, though it was still a light pink mark against his alabaster skin.

“I’m sorry—” Rey began.

Ben shook his head. “No apologizing, remember? Smart decision, knowing how to protect yourself from…creatures like me. Especially after I go while you stay in Ireland.”

Guilt continued to gnaw in Rey’s belly as Ben stood and made a motion towards the door that took them onto the street.

“I have an extra umbrella. Ben, would you like it?” Rose asked, breaking the silence between the two.

“Please.”

Rose rummaged around her closet and produced a large black umbrella. She offered it to Ben handle first and he took it with a grateful smile.

“Rey, when will you be back?” Rose inquired, going to pick up the half-finished mugs of tea and wash them out in the sink.

“16:45 at the latest. I’ll be back for Ben’s skin,” Rey shrugged on her rain jacket and grabbed her own umbrella.

“Alright. Just…keep yourself safe.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Ben, you’ll keep her in one piece for me, won’t you?”

“I will.”

“Good.”

Ben held the door open for Rey and they ducked out into the rain. Rey took a few seconds to lock the door behind her before setting off behind Ben.

The rain was coming down moderately hard as they headed down the path to the heart of the town, if you could even call it that, of the island. The stroll to the SPAR grocery store was no more than a fifteen minute walk on the cobbled road lined with stone fences that looked onto wet, green fields, but the silence between the two hung down on Rey like a heavy wool jacket.

Ben surged forward, staying several steps ahead of Rey at all times no matter how much she tried to match his pace.

“Hey, Ben. Slow down.”

Ben slowed until they walked side by side.

“Do you want me to take the nails out? I don’t need them while you’re here, it was a mistake on my part to put them in in the first place—”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Preparations. Will be going our separate ways soon.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t hold hands—”

“Rey. Do not tempt me.” He said the words deliberately, allowing each one to sink in like a lead ball. “A curse and my hormones. Nothing more. Right?”

Rey tightened her free hand into a fist. “You’re correct.”

“Let us have a happy date, right?” Ben finally looked over at her and gave her a guarded smile. 

“…Alright. Let’s have a happy date.”

They continued in silence to the grocery store. The shop was tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the docks where tourists arrived and departed from the island in the summers, but in the early winter it was just as quiet as the rest of the island was. They shook off raindrops in the intake room where all of the carts were stored before Rey grabbed a black shopping basket from the stack. Past the intake room, the stocked shelves attracted no other customers on this dreary day. Kay, the sole cashier working there this winter, checked her phone from where she stood at the first checkout line.

“Do you want any human food to eat before you head back to the world of your kin?” Rey asked in her third attempt to break the silence with Ben as they walked down the junk food aisle.

“Hm.”

“I’ll get anything you want. Don’t care how much it costs. My treat.” 

Ben very seriously scanned the rows of delectable sugars and fats.

“…A Flake bar.”

“If I may ask,” Rey queried, grabbing four flake bars off the shelf, “why a Flake?”

“First human candy I ever tried. Was a young pup in Dublin, then. Um, ‘nostalgic?’”

“I like them too.”

“Good.” Ben gave Rey a polite smile.

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Not even crisps?”

Ben hesitated, but shook his head. “Just chocolate.”

“Alright.” Rey’s heart squeezed, telling her to _keep talking_ , but Ben seemed to not be in a chatty mood.

They found the rest of her grocery list without a hitch, checked out with Kay giving them not so much as a second look, and made their way to the main square. Though the attached docks were usually bustling with people, even during the off season, it was eerily silent without a single soul around. Fog lay heavily on the ground. The rain began to pour down even harder. Raindrops splashed against the cobbled sidewalk as they quietly crossed the square to Rey’s favorite knitwear shop.

The sign in the windowsill said, “Closed Early Today due to Illness” in large scribbly old lady scrawl and concluded with “Please call Klaud O’Sullivan for emergency inquiries” in smaller print.

“Fuck. _Fuck!_ ” Rey read the sign and swore, feeling the sudden urge to pull out her newly purchased eggs and hurl them at the green-painted storefront.

“Rey. It’s fine. Don’t need a sweater.”

“But I wanted to—”

“Don’t. Need. A. Sweater. Don’t spend more money on me. Please.” Ben closed his umbrella and sat down on the top step that was protected by the overhang above on the flight of stairs to the shop’s entrance. He motioned for Rey to come sit by him, a gesture that this time Rey begrudgingly accepted.

“…I’m sorry, Ben.”

“It’s okay.”

“Maybe you can come back after everything has settled down and I can get you a sweater?”

“Possibly.”

“Or Mas can send me your measurements. She can send the sweater I buy back to your court.”

“The fair folk do not wear human garments of that design.”

“Oh…”

“I wish they did!” Ben hastily corrected his statement, but let the conversation die all the same. They sat side by side, watching the water ripping over the cobbled concrete.

“This date was a bust,” Rey finally got out through gritted teeth.

“No. Got to spend time with you. Am happy.” Ben gave Rey another smile, this time letting his composure crack and his true emotions leak through. The smile became watery.

“Ben…”

He steeled himself and the cracks disappeared.

“…If we had the full four days that Mas thought that we had, what would you have liked to do?”

“Explored. Maybe met up with Armitage—could have helped Rose win his heart. She told me about him while you were gone. And cooked meals with you, maybe? Don’t know. Mostly, just wanted to spend more time with you. Holding each other.” Ben went to reach for Rey’s hand, remembered the barrier between them, and brought it back to his lap. “Even if it isn’t real, I enjoy feeling like I’m in love with you.”

“I would have liked that too.” Rey reached over and hesitantly placed her flat palm against his clothed lower back. Finding no resistance and no pain to greet her, she rubbed small circles into his back until the rain let up.


	16. St. Nicholas of Myra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Happy Sunday. Thank you for your patience in me getting this chapter to you. My grandmother died on Monday and it’s been a hectic period for me. All is starting to wind down again, which means I have the time and an appetite to write selkie Reylo fanfiction! Thank you for your continued readership, I am grateful to have all of you as an audience.
> 
> Since the last chapter, kitsfics was inspired by this fic to write an wonderful little historical _Game of Thrones_ fic with the Hound as a lonely fisherman and Sansa Stark as a mermaid he rescues. Please check it out! The link is at the end of the fic. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady
> 
> P.S. Did Klaud become an OG comparable to Snoke in power in this AU? Hell yes.

It was a solid twenty minutes of downpour before the sounds of rain on the awning above their heads ceased. Rey withdrew her hand from Ben’s broad back and ran it down the side of her calf, waiting for Ben to notice her ceasing the motions and demand more. To say anything, at this point. She would take a discussion about how disgusting raw jellyfish were. But still Ben remained quiet, studying his Oxford shoes. She felt her heartbeat thunder loudly in her ears.

Rey finally broke. With a huff, she turned the pockets of her coat inside out. Ben noticed.

“What are you…?”

“Picking out the stitches holding the nails in place.”

“ _No_ —”

“—I don’t care.” Rey’s words came out like a growl. “I want to hold your hand and I can’t and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Can’t—”

“ _Stop._ You being here means I’m protected, right?”

Ben sat up and rolled his shoulders back, reminding Rey for the first time today just how imposing he was as a man. _A prince._ He gave Rey a serious, piercing stare, altogether unlike a look that Rey had ever seen before. Confident, amused, and just a little bit stern instead of wary and frightened.

“How can I protect you if I can’t touch you?” Rey couldn’t help but give Ben a smirk to try to contain her nervous laughter.

Ben flushed and looked away, suddenly shy again. He removed his glasses to wipe the lenses, but made no further protest as Rey broke the white threads between her fingernails and pulled the two short black nails out from each pocket. She proceed to remove the four other nails she hid in her jeans pockets and in her boots. She pitched the nails one by one behind her shoulder, caring little as to where they fell.

“Here.” After she laced her boots back up, Rey held out her hand and made a grabbing motion. “Nails are gone. Will you give me your hand?”

“Why…?”

“Why not? I’m wearing my underthings inside out like a fool. Let me at least have the pleasure of holding a handsome man’s hand this afternoon.”

Ben with a tensed jaw and tentative expression, reached over, and after brief indecision with his large hand hovering over hers, brushed two fingertips against her palm. Finding no sensation except Rey’s cool touch, Ben met Rey’s eyes and gave her a close-lipped smile of quiet relief. Rey took his hand in hers and intertwined their fingers together. Her heartrate slowed almost instantaneously and she felt immense relief wash over her.

“Let’s go.” Rey grabbed for her shopping bag and stood, pulling Ben to his feet. “Time to go back.”

“Mm.”

With no rain for distraction, the sound of the swelling waves crashing against the rocky shore drummed loudly against Rey’s and Ben’s ears in their stubborn silence. As the minutes passed, Rey noticed Ben’s steps slow and his hand grow clammy in hers. He gradually stopped, anchoring Rey in place. She tugged on his hand to no avail. When Rey looked back at Ben, he looked to the ocean as if in a trance with his mouth parted in a pant. The path back to the hostel was generously far from the rocky shore, separated by two fields of tall withered grass delineated by ancient stone fences. But still he stared in the direction of the water, his eyes tracing the shoreline.

“Ben—”

“Wrong. Not right.”

“What’s going on?”

“Someone is here. Feel them.”

“Who?”

Ben broke his fixation on the sea to look to Rey. The feral look of pure fear from that night that she nearly lost him danced frantically across his features. Rey’s stomach dropped.

“Come.” Ben clasped Rey’s hand in an iron grip and began to run, now dragging Rey behind him.

Rey barely kept up with her selkie’s pace as they rushed back to the hostel in a haze. When the homey building, nestled between large grey boulders, came into view, Ben increased his speed. Upon turning the corner of the building to the front, he stopped in his tracks. Rey bumped into him in her haste to stop her momentum. He grabbed her arm to steady and still her.

A tall, thin, and bald man inspected the broad front door of the hostel. He wore brown leather slippers on his feet and a strange loose buttercup yellow tunic with a V-neck and long sleeves that went all the way to his mid-calf. Rey immediately identified the garment: a Gaelic léine with a cut from early in Irish history. A traditional garment for the people of Ireland. She’d never seen the piece of clothing in person except for one on a living history guy at a renaissance fair in Boston that Rose dragged her to their first year of college.

The man grabbed the handle and pulled—the door didn’t budge. He looked up to windows above the front door and studied them intensely.

“Kyle Renaghan. Or should I refer to you with your true name, Lord Beiricheart of Nilas?” Without removing his eyes from the second floor, the man knew they were there. “Do not try hide the human you have with you.” Rey felt an icy shiver go down her spine. Ben wrapped his arms around her and pressed her back into his chest. She could feel every muscle of his being tense and braced for action under his clothing.

The man turned to them and took a deep bow. “I am blessed to once again be in the presence of our hooded prince,” he looked up to Ben and gave him a sneering, mocking smile with crooked teeth.

The man studied Rey with uneven beady eyes. “Engineer Rey Johnson of Boston. Daughter of banker Sheev Palpatine of Càrn Ùstaidh. Current ward of hostel hostess Mansa McKinley. Beloved friend to archaeologist Rose Tico of San Diego. Do you not recognize me?”

At one point in his life, the man may have been considered handsome, but age and a multitude of scars horribly disfigured his face and neck. They reduced his skin to resembling hamburger meat. The most prominent scar, now deeply indented pink flesh in his greying pale skin started where his hairline must once have been and ran over his scalp.

“…Bubba?”

He let out a wicked laugh. “She’s becoming more observant, my lord. Smart little thing you’ve got there, though I don’t particularly enjoy my unmarried prince taking on a mortal lover of her kind. We don’t want a human queen, do we?” His voice deepened to a growl. “Would make things a bit…messy, don’t you think?”

“Not my lover.”

“My lord,” Sloane’s voice now bordered on coddling mockery. “Our magic does not lie. You have an undying devotion to this girl.”

Ben tightened his arms around Rey. She could feel his rapid heartbeat through his chest. Yet, he said nothing in response to this man’s accusation.

“Do you decline to introduce me properly?”

“Ms. Johnson…Sir Sloane, Gray Lord of The Burren.”

Rey politely inclined her head. “Sir.”

“Call me Bubba, young lady. You’ve been watching me and my girls for months now. We aren’t strangers.” Sloane gave another wheezing laugh while he adjusted the thistle broach on his shoulder. He sauntered towards them with an easy gait. “So, my lord…are the rumors true?”

“What rumors?”

Their unexpected visitor stopped at a polite distance and gave Rey a long, knowing glance that made her shiver. He said something in their ancient language that caused Ben to make a rumbling sound in his throat.

“You know I what refer to,” the man said at long last. He pulled out an intricately carved ceramic pipe from somewhere beneath his tunic and held it between his teeth. He cupped the pipe bowl, whispered a phrase under his breath, and took a deep inhale. Thin wispy smoke began to rise from the pipe. “It is common knowledge that two mortals nearly killed our prince with a spear gun of all things.” Bubba exhaled and spoke around the pipe. The scent of rich tobacco reached Rey’s nostrils and she suppressed the urge to cough. “How did you do it, my prince?”

Ben stayed stubbornly silent.

“Don’t tell me you survived a fatal wound by yourself. Even a selkie of your talent needs assistance from another intelligent soul. You know what I’m getting at, don’t ya?”

Bubba’s dark eyes glittered wickedly as he took a glance over to Rey. “Was it the girl?”

Ben audibly swallowed.

“Sire…” The man reached into his tunic and was about to produce something when the hostel door slammed open. Rey squeezed her eyes shut and listened to blood roar in her ears. 

“Sloane,” Rey listened to the deep and obscured yet familiar accented voice. “You violate our 1892 agreement, stepping onto the shores of Árainn in your human form while I preside here.”

Rey heard the shifting weight of a hefty being descend the couple of cobbled steps in front of the hostel’s main door. She gathered the courage to peek out from underneath her eyelash to see who spoke. A black Irish Cob stallion with a graying muzzle and a stout, sturdy and powerful body bred for cart and wagon-pulling emerged from the hostel. He looked intelligently at Ben and Rey with bright golden irises that framed the eerie rectangular pupils of the equine eye.

“My friend. Still doing the dirty work for that caoineag?” Sloane brought both hands back into view and raised them in a gesture to proclaim his innocence.

“Lord Sloane,” the horse bowed, extending one foreleg and kneeling on the other. “The renounced folk of the Aran Islands request that you return to the sea before Mansa must report your presence here to our queen.”

“Look at you, Klaud. How long has it been since you last shifted from that pathetic human form?”

The horse stood and considered Sloane’s question. “Going on thirty-six years, I believe?”

“What made you do it?” Sloane’s thick layer of sarcasm peeled back just enough to reveal a hint of genuine curiosity.

“Our prince made the decision to return to court today. I will escort him there.”

“A elder púca letting a royal selkie ride him? You’ve gone soft, old man.”

“It is an _honor_ ,” Klaud responded. “Ben, Rey. Get inside. Prepare for Ben’s departure.”

Rey, still in the harness that were her selkie’s arms, all but dragged Ben past the horse up the stairs and hurried inside.

Mansa anxiously paced up and down the length of the handstitched hallway carpet. She stopped when the door slammed behind the two and hurried over.

“Rey, take Ben up to your room and make him change. If Sloane is here, other fae hunters will be arriving shortly. We must make haste.”

Rey took Ben’s hand and hurried him up the stairs to their room.

Though their door was unlocked, Rose sat at their coffee table seriously sewing iron nails into the front of her field book bag. At her feet encircling the table and her chair was a ring of meticulously placed nails laid pointed end to head on top of a heaping layer of dry oats and red berries.

“Rose, don’t look over here.”

Her roommate nodded and stayed focused to her task.

While Ben removed his human clothing, Rey pulled his skin from where she kept it under her mattress and unfolded it. She draped it over her arm and focused on a crack in the plaster behind Ben’s shoulder. When he had stripped down to nothing, she pulled it over his shoulders.

“Rey—”

“No time—” She gently worked the glasses off his ears and perched them on her head like sunglasses for safekeeping.

“Rey.” Ben’s voice was soft and pleading, but at the same time gently assertive. “Help. Again. Please.”

“Want do you need _help_ with?”

“Changing _this._ ” He indicated his skin.

“What? How? Helping you again won’t complicate the curse even more, will it?”

He shook his head. “Already in too deep. Watch.”

“ _Fine._ ”

Ben reached for her hand, which she gave willingly, and pressed it against the side of his neck.

“Do I do anything…?”

“No. Just…touch me.”

Ben gripped the edges of his skin and began to hum while fixating his gaze onto Rey’s face. She immediately identified the song.

_Black is the color of my true love’s hair…_

The same eerie pale blue-silver shimmer ran from the tips of skin up the length of the pelt, encapsulating the entire garment. Ben shuddered, but kept humming without a single break in his concentration.

The pelt expanded and twisted as Rey watched, covering Ben’s naked frame entirely. When the shimmer wore off, there stood Ben in an oversized silvery duffle coat, tailored black pants, and tall leather boots. A late nineteenth century sailor’s outfit.

“ _How_ …?”

“Shhh, can’t explain now. Abilities are…‘rusty?’ Easy for skin to revert back.”

Rey ran her hand from his bare neck down the front of his coat. It wasn’t an illusion—it definitely felt like a wool-mix fabric under her fingers. “Well, I guess I will have to ask you in the future, then.”

“Yes. If we meet again.”

_Your time is up._

The thought struck Rey square in the center of her chest like a bullet. The horse was ready, Ben was in his travelling clothes, and she was about to hand him over to Mansa.

_He’s not yours ‘forever more.’_

She looked up into his face and saw how intensely he looked at her, memorizing every line and curve of her face.

_He was never mine to begin with._

“May I…?”

“Yes. Please.”

Rey wrapped her arms around his shoulder and brought him close. Ben quickly reciprocated her action with his arms around her waist. It was the most intense embrace Rey could ever recall having been a part of. So many unspoken words and unexpressed emotions laying just below the surface, and not having enough time or freedom to reveal them.

There was no reason to cry in front of him, Rey reasoned, but she failed to keep a tear from leaking as Ben released her and gave her an unsteady smile with bright, blurry eyes. She wiped it away hastily when Ben leaned down to press his forehead against hers and grabbed for her hands.

“What’s 'goodbye' in Irish?”

Ben exhaled shakily. “ _Slán_.”

“Slán, Ben.”

“Slán go fóill, Rey. _Slán anois mo ghrá_.”

“What does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Secret.”

***

After another hug and a look out the window to ensure the disappearance of their unwelcome guest, Rey insisted on uselessly helping Ben onto the back of Klaud. With a final nod of appreciation from Ben, they set out into the fields beside the hostel to the shore. She watched as Klaud stepped into the surf and walked out to sea as if weighed down by weights until the waters swallowed both horse and rider entirely. Now only calm waves lapped against the island of Inishmore.


	17. St. Ann

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Another late chapter for you all, thank you for your patience. CW for this chapter: some moderately disturbing body horror stuff in this chapter.
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

The sun’s afterglow illuminated the thin and whispy cirrostratus clouds above in brilliantly rich purple, pink, and orange. Rey sat on a large flat rock that was situated adjacent to the part of the shore where Ben and Klaud entered the ocean. She scanned the horizon every couple of minutes, just in case she were to see a little seal snout or a giant black horse head pop up from out of the waves. The wind had picked up in the last couple hours—a large storm was on its way that would probably linger around for the next several days.

“Rey,” Rey felt a small hand come to rest on her shoulder. “Come inside.”

Rey shifted to look at Mas and shook her head. Mas removed her hand and folded her arms across her chest. The temperature dropped with the sunset and the hostel owner was dressed only in a thin navy shift and light blue woolen scarf. Her head was uncovered surprisingly—little clinging droplets of water on her hair signified to Rey that Mas took an uncharacteristic evening shower today. Rey knew Mas watched her from the windows in the kitchen, for this spot was a place she admired often over a bowl of granola.

“Rose wants you inside.”

Rose came out perhaps two hours ago to check on Rey after two attempts by Mas to beckon her inside. She brought a ham, brie, marmalade, and arugula sandwich out for her best friend and tried to bring along some small talk too. Rose cracked a shaky joke about how’d she have to get over her fear of horses now that Klaud was one, the truth told to her by Mas. Rey gave nothing but short, shallow answers to Rose’s subsequent questions, leading Rose to sigh and go back inside. Rey hadn’t the stomach to eat the sandwich until thirty minutes ago. Even then, the food, despite it being one of her favorite meals, tasted dry on her tongue.

“…I know. But—”

“Ben as you know him will be gone soon, love.” Mas squatted down beside Rey and gave her a knowing look. “This love-struck Ben you know results from the curse. The Ben _I_ know is quite different. You wouldn’t enjoy him much, I’m afraid.”

“Ah. I see.” Rey straightened out her legs in front of her and stretched, wincing as tendons popped uncomfortably. She hadn’t found the time to stretch properly today. She would pay for it tomorrow. “What about this though?” Rey pulled up her pant leg. The mark was now a pale maroon, much lighter than its usual port wine stain color.

Mas reached out and pressed three fingers against the mark. Rey again felt the flicker of heat against her skin, but made no movement to mitigate the pain.

“Tomorrow evening. It will be gone.”

“Hm.”

“Come, inside. Your link is not yet severed.”

While Rey knew that while she could easily rationalize people’s disappearances in her life, knowing that Ben didn’t leave of his own accord gnawed at her insides.

 _What could I have done to keep him safe?_ Rey played over the events of last twenty-four hours again and again in her mind: the forceful shifting between seal and man, their rest, the kiss...she knew realistically there was nothing she could do, that she was powerless in this situation unless she held him here against his will and subsequently let his court consume his family alive. That didn’t keep her from trying to find loopholes, something that she could say to Mas or Klaud that would keep Ben free.

“Before any more hunters show up.”

With her knees protesting and without a single word, Rey stood up slowly and followed Mas back inside. She slept dreamlessly that night, alone in a dark void with the sound of raindrops on the roof to keep her company.

***

The next day, Rey disassociated herself from the activities of the last several weeks and dived headfirst into her housekeeping duties. She cleared out the cluttered kitchen cupboard and threw out all of the dry goods that went bad in the last several months. She biked to the grocery store to get new replacements. She deep cleaned the laundry room, even unplugging the dryer to get all of the bits of lint clinging to the trap and inside the tubing. Rey caved only once, when Mas asked her to clean Room 2B. There, she ended up hoarding the pillowcase Ben used. The barest hint of his masculine sea spray scent clung to the fabric. Rey’s heart gave an unexpected ache in response to the smell. She stashed it under her own pillow. If Rose noticed Rey’s strange behavior, she made no indication of it. Instead, Rose spent the day steadfastly focusing on her academic article with a circle of iron nails surrounding her workspace.

After a dinner of roast beef and spinach salad followed by three games of cribbage with a quiet Mas and a solemn Rose wearing a necklace fashioned out of an iron nail on a string, Rey dreamt again of Ben’s corpse lying upon the black rocky shores of Inishmore. She approached his white and bloated body which was now covered in purplish green liver spots. This time, an opportunistic carnivore had chewed away the skin and muscle of his face and neck. An eyeless, skeletal visage with a slackened jaw stared up at her, the white bones stark against the rot. Thick maggots fearlessly marched across his chest and stomach.

“Ben?” Rey felt herself say through a hazy, blurry filter that distorted her voice. She reached down to hold his cold clammy hand when the worst thing imaginable occurred: the outer layer of his skin, including his fingernails adhered to her hand. As she slowly pulled her hand away from his, his skin peeled off of the top of his hand and fingers with her touch with a damp rip. She stared at the slipped skin of _her_ Ben now stuck to her palm and screamed.

A surge of angry, venomous _pain_ up her leg woke Rey from her nightmare. With white flashes in front of her eyes, she threw back her sheets, fumbled for her phone, and turned on the flashlight to examine the source of the agony. Nausea hit her square in the stomach.

“Rey…?” A sleep-addled voice sounded from the top bunk.

“Rose, go back to sleep.” Rey steadied her voice. She stood, grabbed for her phone and pillow and then ran over to the closet for her towel.

“You sure…?”

“Yes. Go to sleep.”

“’Kay.” With a squeak of bed springs, Rose rolled over to face the wall.

Rey exited her room with alacrity, paying no mind to the cat’s yellow eyes watching her as she stumbled toward the women’s bathroom at the end of the hall. Her hamstrings tightened unnaturally in the affected leg, and putting weight on it for more than a couple of seconds made her feel lightheaded. It was worse than the aftermath of when she ran that marathon in her second year of college.

Hurriedly pushing the door closed behind her, Rey sat down on the cool tile floor. The automatic overhead flush mount lights hummed noisily above in a happy, careless tone. She clumsily yanked her pajama pant leg up to her mid-thigh. The mark was a disgusting off-black with tinges of green—a giant scab.

_Pull it off._

Rey ran her fingertips over the mark. The colored skin was uneven and crusty to the touch. She felt spinach salad threaten to come up. Using the edge of her nubby fingernail on her thumb, she began to pick at it. The burning pain intensified and her tendon felt like it was about to tear in two. Rey cradled her pillow between her chest and her knees and bit down on it. She screamed and shrieked over and over again, muffling the noise into its stuffing as she successfully peeled back an edge of the scab.

_Why? Let me keep the mark. Please._

Dizzied Rey kept tugging away at the scab.

_Are you hurting, Ben? How do I take your pain away?_

After two long torturous minutes of short bursts of courage to peel it off, Rey held the blackened scab in the palm of her hand. She stared at it in shock. Her skin underneath was pink and healthy-looking—unlikely to leave a scar from her past experiences with running scabs on her shins and knees. The pain ebbed away, now dull and centered on the wound.

_I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry._

Rey felt tears blur her sightline.

_I miss you._

The tears fell and gathered in streaks that joined under her chin. After wrapping the scab up in toilet paper and disposing of it in the trash, Rey returned to her pillow and let herself once again vent her emotions.

When the first strong surge of sadness passed, Rey found herself feeling drained with a wet pillow in hand and a raw pink patch of skin oozing clear healing serum on her calf.

_I’m alone._

Rey suppressed another round of crying and suddenly hungered for a voice of one person in particular. Someone didn’t have to keep her in his life. She typed out his number by memory and held her phone to her ear with baited breath. He picked up after three rings.

“H—hello?”

“Papa.”

“Hello, my chickadee!” This time, Palpatine sounded like he just woke up from a nap but was trying to hide the sleepiness by overcompensating with enthusiasm. “How is your adventure in Ireland going? Are you excited to come home soon?”

“My ‘adventure in Ireland’ isn’t going well. And I miss Boston—and you terribly. It’s good to hear your voice.”

“I’m glad to hear your voice too, but the adventure isn’t going well? That isn’t good.” Sheev Palpatine sounded heart-broken in his question.

“No—don’t get me wrong, it was really fun— until last month. Last month…I met a boy.” Rey knew that she wouldn’t tell her grandfather the whole truth, but she aimed to tell him a thinly veiled version of events as best she could.

“Oh?”

“’Boy’ is the wrong word. He’s about ten years older than me, give or take.”

“Is he a doctor? Lawyer?”

“No…he’s a waiter. Nothing but a waiter from a wealthy family.”

“Go on.”

“His name is Ben. On a bike ride one evening, I found him bleeding out and helped to save his life. He found me after he had healed some to thank me for helping him and the conversation just…flowed. We went on a couple of dates and have had a really wonderful experience spending time together. The thing is…is that he moved back to the UK today. I said good-bye to him before he took off on his flight. Papa, here’s the thing—I think I’ve made an awful mistake.” Rey felt the phlegm rise in her throat and her eyes water.

“How so?”

“I think I might be in love with him? If I’m not in love with him, I’m horribly infatuated with him. I don’t know,” Rey sighed as the tears threatened to pour again. “It’s complicated. But what do I do?”

“Rey, baby.” Papa paused to collect his thoughts. “You and I…we have much different life experiences. My mum and dad, your great-grandparents, lived to be ninety-eight and ninety-four respectively. I could never put myself in your shoes with what you’ve been through. I was so excited when I found you and realized you were so motivated to go to university and do well…I had hoped that you would find someone while you were in school,” he cleared his throat before continuing. “You never introduced me to a ‘beau’ so I figured that you weren’t interested in dating. By last year, I would have been excited to meet _anyone_ you brought home to dinner, whether they be a lady, man, or someone in between. They could have blue and purple skin for all I care too.” He hesitated before continuing. “Two months isn’t much to go on, love, but if an English boy with nothing more than a secondary education is what your heart desires, get him.”

“Really?”

“Proclaim your love like how it happens in the romantic comedies your grandmother, bless her soul, enjoyed watching. Buy a plane ticket. I’ll help you if I have to. Chase him down. Tell him the way you feel.” Rey could hear a quirk of a smile in his voice. “At one point in my life, I’d want you to bring home a doctor man, but life teaches you that it often doesn’t work so linearly. I always figured you’d be the one wearing the pants in the relationship anyways. Just want you to have someone besides your friends as family…so when I pass I don’t leave you alone.”

“…Okay.” Rey got a burst of exhausted confidence and reassurance somewhere deep inside the depths of her heart. Papa wouldn’t let her down. “I’ll do it. I will make plans tomorrow. ”

“That’s my girl! Keep me updated. Also, remember, doll. Remember one thing about your old-old man.”

“Yes?”

“I will always love you, no matter what.”


	18. St. Brecan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Happy National Simplicity Day. The chapter count keeps going up unfortunately, but thank you again so much for reading!
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

After a quick shower to lighten her spirits, Rey found an old, battered first aid kit in the bathroom closet, wrapped up her calf, and hobbled back to her room. She took a brush through her tangled hair and settled into bed, but found herself staring up at the black metal slats that prevented Rose and her mattress from falling down on top of her. 

_Shit. How does one regain the affections of a selkie without the aid of a very convenient curse?_

Rey rolled onto her stomach and folded her arms underneath her torso. She pulled her blanket around her head like a shawl.

The most obvious answer, of course, would be to cry seven tears into the sea.

_Is seven tears the minimum number of tears that have to hit the water, or is my request null and void if I go over seven tears? What happens if I cry nine by accident?_

The mental image of herself very deliberately leaning over the shoreline and trying to get tears to aim precisely reminded her of the Twitter reaction video of the little girl taking a video of herself hysterically fake crying and then very seriously posting it to her Snapchat story before wiping her nose on her shirt. Rey was never good at faking tears—when they flowed, they brought snot out too.

_Does snot do anything?_

Rey stifled a tired chuckle at the idea. Folklore logic, while often motivated by the political and social rules of the day, was often rather ridiculous when looked at in another space and time.

_Would Ben even be able to detect the tears from where he is?_

With her luck, seven tears would probably grant her the paramours of Bubba. The thought of being relentlessly pursued by _that_ was not desirable in the least.

_One particular selkie out of dozens if not hundreds of selkies that probably occupy these waters. Their prince of all chances. You stupid human girl._

Rey fought against these intrusive thoughts as best she could. She spent two hours formulating speeches to give to Mas in the morning.

_Please, Mas. Please let me see him. My Ben. At least one more time._

With four speeches prepared, Rey finally gave way to uneasy but untroubled sleep.

***

Rey confronted Mas at 6:30 in the downstairs kitchen. The preoccupied hostel owner paid no attention to the fact that Rey, who usually went running the first thing in the morning on the weekdays, now cautiously entered the room in her pajamas and with her fuzzy lounging blanket around her shoulders. Mas was dressed in the same outfit from the previous evening, now with the addition of a silk sunflower-patterned hair covering and her apron.

“Rey.” Mas addressed her without taking her eyes from the crispy brown sausage rounds that she fried in a wide cast iron pan on top of the sooty antique coal stove. “If you think that I’ll let you show up at the Northern Unseely Court to reclaim Ben like he was some sort of lost dog, you’re a—using your human vocabulary here—a fucking idiot.”

“How—”

“Bebe told me everything.”

“ _…Pardon?_ ”

Mas let out a heavy sigh and paused to switch the fully cooked sausage for raw rounds already laid out on a white china plate resting on the counter next to the stove. “Little Rey, Bebe is a hefty black cat with a white spot on his chest. Please tell me that you know what _he_ could be at least.”

“…Cat sidhe.”

“Precisely. He’s my ‘partner-in-crime’ so to speak. He switched allegiances fourteen years ago after he transformed for the ninth time.”

From the way that the cat often looked at her so intelligently, this new revelation wasn’t surprising to Rey. Rose and she often joked about how Bebe looked like he could understand them during their weekend breakfast banters. Still, the revelation turned her veins to ice.

“While he may hold little worth in the world of mankind, the crown prince is priceless to fae. He’s not a server that you track down in London.”

“Mansa, I need to go _—_ ”

“Your mark is gone. What you saw last night? The Cailleach fulfilled her end of the bargain.”

“Mansa, _please._ ”

“Rey,” Mansa made an exasperated noise and looked up at the ceiling. “I want nothing more to do with this situation. Ben is no longer your fiancé. Your connection is _severed._ ”

“ _Please, Mas, please._ I beg you. Help me go to court.”

“Rey, _remember_. Selkies are made to be doted upon and obsessed over. Your body is reacting to that in particular. It will pass. Even if I wanted to help you, I am barred from court.”

Rey trembled and pulled the blanket even tighter around her. “I’ve never felt this way about another person before. I’m so confused.”

“Your devoted Ben is gone. Even if he takes a liking to you as you are now, he will fuck you and leave you with a child.”

“He wouldn’t…”

“He would, Rey.”

“Mas,” Rey hiccupped. She felt her throat thicken and she _hated_ it.

“There’s no other way to say this besides you’re being selfish. Let’s say _hypothetically_ that Ben falls in love with you and for some godforsaken reason wants to become your husband. Selkies live for two or three centuries on average. Ben’s physical aging is slow. He will remain looking more or less the same while your skin sags, your hair whitens, and your bones grow brittle. Your death will leave us with nothing but a dangerous Sluagh if he tries to take his own life. You’ll damn him more than he is already damned. You’ll ruin everything.”

“If Ben is truly so hated, won’t other members of the court continue with their assassination attempts?”

Mas hesitated.

“If…Ben remembers me and I can somehow convince his mother to turn over the throne to a more respected successor—will you help me?”

Mas studied Rey with her striking dark eyes. “No. Many human men and women have tried to reclaim their fairy lovers from the courts. Very few succeed. By trying to infiltrate an unseely court, you’re looking at a ‘suicide mission’, love. Death at best, eternal enslavement at worst.”

“I just want to see him, Mas. Nothing else.” Rey’s eyes ached as she rallied to shed tears for the second time in twenty-four hours. “Even if it is just for a day or a night. Anything you can do will help. Please.” 

Mas hesitated again and then gave a large huff after what felt like a long period of silence accented only by the sizzling of pork fat. She dumped more freshly fried sausage rounds onto a heaping second china plate. She wiped her hands on her apron and grabbed a chair from the dining table. Dragging the chair over to the pie safe and standing upon it, she opened the top cabinet and pulled out what looked like a well-worn wrinkled cheese cloth tied into a parcel with a bit of twine.

“Here.” Mas went over to where Rey stood by the door and deposited the stained cloth in her hands. Rey groped the folded cloth to guess to the contents inside. “Nuh-uh. Don’t open it. Go directly to Teampall Bhreacáin. Do not tell anyone what you’re doing, even Rose, and do not stop to talk to anyone on the way. I know nothing of what you’re about to do.”

Rey wiped a tear trail from her cheek with the heel of her hand. “Thank you.”

“Hurry.”

Rey went to open the door as Mansa called after her.

“Dress in something attractive before you go.” 

***

Rey biked to Teampall Bhreacáin in her trusty boots, a heavy leather jacket, and the only dress she brought for the entire trip. It was the cutest thing she had on hand: a heather-grey woolen dress with a high neck and long sleeves. She stupidly forgot to pack any cute leggings or stockings to wear with it, so gooseflesh stood erect on her legs underneath the long skirt. With every peddle pump, Rey prayed that no cloth got caught in the spokes despite her best efforts to pin the skirt somewhat up with a precarious assemblage of safety pins. She passed no one on her ride there.

The rain came down as a fine mist from the darkened skies above when Rey arrived to the wide, well-mowed field where the church ruins were. She dismounted the bike, tucked it away in a group of bushes beside the road, and pulled off her helmet. As she clipped the helmet’s chin strap to her handlebar, she stared through the misty rain at the ruins.

All that remained of the roofless multi-period Teampall Bhreacáin was its roughhewn walls and foundation that formed an equally sized navel and chancel. Many expansions had been added to the building over the years, but Rey focused on the building itself. It was in a state of preservation that still concealed the contents inside from outside eyes. Rey gathered her courage and made her way towards the church, deliberately following the stone path among the gravestones to the side entrance.

Rey peeked inside. A monstrously big wet black dog with a white muzzle rested with his eyes closed on the floor under the magnificent semi-circular cut stone arch that split the church in two.

“Mo chara Meiriceánach. I suspected you’d come here,” the dog uttered into the silence. Rey jumped at the sound of a familiar man’s voice emanating from the animal. The dog stood up with a grunt and stretched before lazily opening one golden eye.

“Klaud?”

“Cé eile a d’fhéadfainn a bheith?” Klaud panted out the words and gave Rey a doggy smile. He shook from head to tail and Rey watched as droplets of water flew through the air. “Come inside.”

“What are you doing here?” Rey blurted out as she stepped over the threshold, still surprised by the presence of such a large dog after months of not seeing any. He didn’t resemble any other dog she’d ever seen. He had the body of an obese Great Dane, a feathery sickle-shaped tail curling over his back, and the distinctively blocky head and sweet face of an American Staffordshire Terrier.

“I knew St. Brecan briefly when he came to Inishmore during the fifth century to destroy the relics of the god worshipped here at the time. He converted these buildings to a Christian temple. While I usually condone the destruction of history and culture in such a disgusting manner, he was a sweet and gentle man who treated the residents of the island well. I briefly walked among his order as a man for…ten years or so? Even when he discovered my identity after too much beer one night, he was never frightened of me. He let me remain here as a cat for an additional two decades.” Klaud squatted down to resemble a cat loaf and yawned. “I suppose he is the one who planted the seeds that led me to where I am today, a strange púca with too much love for humanity. I give him a toast every year beside his tomb here during his feasting day in May. To keep his memory alive as everything crumbles around us. With how acidic man has caused our rains to become, I will be surprised if these walls last another three hundred years. To answer your question: it’s a safe and comforting place for me. I needed some rest after seeing the state of our former court.”

“I see,” Rey leaned against the doorframe and tried not to give the appearance of being panicked. “Why was it so bad?”

“That is for you to find out,” Klaud’s tongue lolled out of his mouth. “If you’d like, I suppose.”

Rey heard a chirp and Bebe emerged from the concealed portion of the church hidden behind the arch. He jumped onto Klaud and perched on his shoulder blade like a parrot. He opened her mouth and what suspiciously sounded like Irish Gaelic came out of it.

“Did Bebe tell you everything?” Rey whispered, an indescribable form of horror overcoming her.

“Yes. Including your affections for the selkie.” Klaud’s eyes twinkled mischievously.

“I’m sorry,” Rey said, looking at her hands. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Rey _Bheag_ ,” Klaud said, stretching again with Bebe trying to maintain his balance, “You forget that you are talking to two unseely _aos sí_ who quite like you and quite dislike the court that we’ve renounced. Mansa cannot help you because she has sworn duties to fulfill, but _we_ can.”

“What’s in it for you?”

“Chaos in the Northern Unseely Court, of course.” Klaud gave a wheezing canine laugh. “It would greatly amuse both of us to see you, a human girl from such a young country, to steal the crown prince away, permanently this time.”

“I just want to see him and make sure he’s alive.”

“Humans lie so superbly, Bebe.”

“No, really. I promise.”

“Hmmmm. Lie or no lie, we cannot tell. But this is the only time I may offer you a ride on my back.”

Rey’s heart gave a leap of panic. “Let me propose a compromise, then.”

“Speak.”

“If Ben recognizes me at all, I will help you cause chaos in your court. If he does not recognize me, I shall visit only the one time and we will never speak of this again. I will never again ask for your assistance.” 

“A young woman going to reclaim her love like a knight would for a princess of old…I like it. Or perhaps a bit like that fairytale, no? I…cannot recall its name though. No matter. I will agree to this deal.” Klaud’s dog form disappeared in a wisp of lavender smoke and the beautiful horse that kept the scarred Sir Sloane at bay appeared in its place. Bebe, still on Klaud’s shoulder, began to purr loudly.

“We leave immediately.”


	19. St. Peter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Happy National Moon Day! Just realized that I accidentally referred to Bebe as female in the previous chapter when in fact I designated him as male earlier in the fic. That is now fixed!
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“Immediately?”

“Immediately. The fabric between our world and yours is thinnest in the early mornings and late evenings. If we delay our departure, my kind will notice and word will spread quickly.”

Klaud kneeled on both of his front knees. “Mount.”

Rey hesitated.

Bebe chirped again and turned to whisper something into Klaud’s ear with intonation that sounded suspiciously like a question or two. Klaud inclined his head and flicked his ears.

“Rey—we have one additional requirement, yeh?”

“What’s that?”

Klaud hesitated and Bebe gave him an inquisitive glance. “You must tolerate all glamours and enchantments Bebe and I put you under.”

“…How many of these are we talking about?”

“Two at the minimum. The first is a…protection spell of sorts. I’ll take care of that.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“Rey…I swear you are in good hands with me. _Muinín dom._ ”

“How good is the word of one of your kind?”

“Rey—” Klaud made an exasperated noise. “I explicitly _offer_ you a ride on my back—not even Brian Boru himself had such an offer. No special bridle or spurs necessary. A ride directly to Tír fo Thuinn with your body and soul intact.”

“Will you provide me with a ride directly back too? Within a maximum of twenty-four hours of our departure from Inishmore? A ride back to this island, to the very stones we stand on as I speak? An assurance that my body and soul will be intact when I come back?” 

Klaud gave Bebe an unreadable glance before speaking. “Yes, Rey. I will follow your requests.”

“What does your protection spell consist of?”

“Protection from the influence of other fae—protection from our foods as well. It will protect you and your mortality while you visit our court.”

“What do you receive in exchange?”

Klaud yawned, showing off his yellowed flat horsey teeth. “It’s all for the chaos. You will not lose years off of your life. Your affection for a selkie will be more than enough of a sacrifice on your part to me. I seek to peacefully remove Ben and his family from the line of succession and replace them with a more worthy candidate. You are my last hope to accomplish that goal. ”

“A more worthy candidate?”

“We will introduce him to you when we arrive. He is another ally—Mansa approves of him as well.”

Rey shivered but relented. The misty rain began to soak through her dress. “Fine. I’ll be a part of it. What of the second enchantment?”

“Bebe will do that one…think of it as a ‘universal translator.’”

Bebe readied his haunches and sprung from Klaud’s shoulders to Rey’s with a whump. Rey stepped back with a grunt to support the weight of the Maine Coon-sized cat. The cat precariously balanced his weight between her shoulders and chest to stare down into her eyes and dug into her shoulders with his thorn sharp claws. Once comfortable, Bebe pressed his forehead against Rey’s.

“Tabhair tuiscint di ar ár bhfocail.” The cat whispered with lisps caused by how his teeth failed to accommodate for human speech. Rey felt like she got stabbed in the forehead with a sewing needle-thick weapon. Her eyesight began to blur and what looked like floating pieces of blue plastic danced across her vision.

“Forgot to mention one little thing, mo álainn.” Klaud’s voice was echo-y in her ears.

“Yeah?” Now disoriented, Rey turned around and took a few stumbling steps backwards until she bumped into Klaud’s large warm haunch.

“We can’t have yeh awake for the journey.”

“Have a good rest,” said a new reed-thin voice. Rey looked over at the cat anchored to shoulder as her vision went black.

***

Rey woke up to a rough pink tongue licking the inside of her right ear. She jerked to a sitting position and realized that she was precariously perched bareback on the back of a galloping horse.

_Klaud?_

His hide was wet with sweat. Around her shoulders, she wore a thin, slightly damp bathrobe-like garment made of a light material akin to satin over her leather jacket. Rey drew it around herself and looked around, her eyes still blurry and swimming. All she saw was flashes of pumpkin orange, fallen oak leaf yellow, and dark turquoise.

The same weight hopped up onto her shoulder and same little voice spoke right next to the ear. “We are about to land. Brace yourself. No worries, I have Mansa’s parcel safely tucked away. It won’t fall.” Rey leaned forward and grabbed handfuls of Klaud’s mane.

“Close your eyes.”

Rey obeyed and felt a shot of cool air surround her as she blacked out again.

***

Rey felt herself wake again, but as she opened her eyes she perceived nothing but darkness and the faint flicker of something yellow. The fuzzy feel of horse hair against her legs had shifted and changed into something coarse and itchy. It look all of her willpower to not reach down and scratch the skin around her bandaged calf.

“Rey, we arrived.” Rey felt a gentle pair of human-like hands lift her head and undo a knot at the nape of her neck. The person peeled off what Rey soon discovered was a strange gossamer eye mask and she saw Klaud, back in his comfortable old balding man form, looking down at her with kind eyes. Her eyesight still blurred around the edges of her vision.

“Do not move yet, please.” He said lightly. “I—”

“Klaud! We can’t…sneak her directly under a bunch of rushes like you did with the one healer for the princess ten centuries ago. The guards know now to look out for that kind of shit.” A third voice, unlike Klaud’s or the thin one she heard during her journey, reached her ears. It was assertive, warm, and obviously oblivious to Klaud’s previous comment to her.

“Well, I thought it was worth trying!” Klaud snapped back.

“She’s not favored by a deity, she has no royal Irish blood, and she has no supernatural talents? An American girl with English blood. If this gets out, I—”

“It won’t get out,” the thin voice spoke. Rey turned her head towards the conversation that was just out of her sight. She blinked and the slightly hazy but unmistakable view of a dark-featured man with curly brown and grey hair having a three way argument with Klaud and a black cat graced her eyes. They appeared to be in an underground vault cut out of craggy limestone, lit only by wavering tallow candles. She could faintly hear traditional folk music coming from somewhere beyond the walls. “We’re working with a consenting human here who _actually_ has affections for the prince.”

“She’s so _young_ though—”

“The prince is a mere ten years older than her. A significant age gap by human standards, _yes,_ but nothing scandalous. She’s legal by their laws.” The cat had a higher-pitched clipping voice, eerily not human-sounding in the slightest.

The man rubbed his face with both hands in exasperation. Klaud glanced down from Rey to his two companions.

“Bebe, Damon—Miss Johnson is awake.”

“Gods save us.” The man— _Damon, was it?—_ hurried over to her side. “Can she understand us?”

“Do you know what I’m saying, human?” The cat carelessly jumped from where he was perched onto Rey’s chest. He laid down like the Sphinx and stared at her with eerie yellow eyes.

“…Yes.” Her tongue felt heavy as if she was coming out of a drugged sleep too quickly. She licked her lips.

“What is my name?”

“Bebe.”

“Smart girl.” the cat purred. “My enchantment holds. You’re comprehending Irish Gaelic and our ancient tongue. We are speaking in both.”

“Wow…um…can…I sit up?” The cat stood and jumped from her chest (with unwelcomed pain) to Klaud’s shoulder. Her arms felt weak and useless as Rey tried to push her weight up.

“You’re experiencing magic exhaustion—immobilizes humans a bit unfortunately. It will wear off in several minutes,” Klaud assured her.

“Here.” Without hesitation, Damon helped Rey into a sitting position. The skin of his palms was soft and fuzzy like Ben’s was against her arm.

“Thank you…may I ask where are we?” Rey squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. Her vision sharpened just a little bit more and she noticed the wooden kegs lining the walls around them.

“Welcome to the wine cellar for the Northern Unseely Court. We are directly below the palace.”

“And who are you…?” Rey dug her knuckles into her eyes to cease the floating sparkles against her vision in the candlelight.

“Damon, but call me Poe.”

“He’s the Majordomo of this court and a part of the queen’s camarilla.” Klaud hesitantly picked a leafy whorl from a rush tangled in Rey’s hair.

“I got you in here, and I’ll ensure you get out of here by day break,” Poe smirked and squeezed Rey’s shoulder. “You’re safe with me.”

“Thank you?” Rey’s opened her eyes again and found her vision to have cleared, the knitting on her dress now distinguishable stitch by stitch. When she looked up into Poe’s face, she momentarily stunned by how _handsome_ this man was up close. He wasn’t like Ben—all wide and bulky with an unusual face. Instead, he was very obviously leanly muscled, smaller-framed, and with the face of a strong-jawed model.

“Are you a selkie too?” Rey couldn’t help but cringe as the question tumbled out.

He broke into a flattered, perfect smile. “How could you tell?”

“You’re handsomer than the rest of us, fur seal.” Bebe yawned and began to groom his chest.

“Am I?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Bebe paused with his tongue out to give Poe a withering stare.

“You—your skin feels like Ben’s.”

Poe’s smile widened. “Oh?”

“Not in that way,” Rey added hastily.

“I wouldn’t suggest such a thing, my dear. With one glance, I can tell you’re not with child.”

“ _Poe—_ ” Bebe interrupted.

“What?!”

“ _Sensitivity._ ”

“Right, right. My apologies, Rey.”

“None taken. I’ve been told selkies are quite fertile before.” Rey stretched and winced as her muscles regained strength with a pop of tightened muscle loosening. “Thank you, Poe, for getting me in here.”

“You’re welcome, love. No more 'thank yous,' please.”

“Right—I hate to be hasty, but what’s the plan? For me to meet Ben.” Rey rolled her ankles in a circular motion and counted three audible pops.

“Klaud.” Poe gave the old man an exasperated look. “You didn’t tell her your plans?”

“She wouldn’t have agreed to it if I did.”

Rey’s heart gave a leap of panic. “Agree to what?”

“Rey…it is a holiday week here. A winter celebration of fertility and debauchery—a holiday that your kind has forgotten but our kind continues to celebrate.”

“Don’t sugarcoat it, Poe.” Bebe snapped.

“‘Sugarcoat’…?”

“Make it sound better than it actually is.” Klaud clarified.

“Tell her. It’s a celebration of Ben’s return and his committed engagement to Duchess Iscea.”

Rey felt a sickening dread come over her. “Oh…I see.”

“Where…?” Bebe prompted Poe.

“Where the court consumes a lot of human whiskey and engages in mass coitus.”

“An orgy, Poe.”

“An orgy it is, then,” Poe sighed.

“A court-wide orgy that lasts for seven days,” Bebe pressed.

“If we weren’t working on a time crunch, Rey, we would wait.” Klaud said kindly.

“Ben will wed Iscea in three weeks. If you hope to steal him from the altar, Rey, this is your only chance. Isn’t that right, Damon?”

“You’re correct, Bebe.” Poe shrugged.

“And how will we do that?” Rey swallowed.

“I’d hoped we could smuggle you to Ben’s chambers, but I think that disguising you as a server might be our only option in the current circumstances. I will cast a glamour upon you that resembles the enchantment that the court uses on mortal servants.”

“Disgusting,” Bebe spat. “Mortal servants are a despicable practice.”

“I know, Bebe,” Klaud said quietly.

“I’ll maintain my freewill, right?” Rey panicked. “Under the glamour?” 

“You will. No one will suspect you but the most magically-gifted among us—we number very few.” Klaud muttered something under his breath and a simple navy gossamer dress materialized between his fingertips. “You’ll wear this over your dress. Standard attire for the court servants.”

“You’ll be able to directly attend to Ben and be near to him that way. I will also put your hair up per our protocol.” Poe offered.

“If Ben isn’t focused on ‘fucking the brains’ out of another courtier, maybe he’ll notice you.” Bebe wheezed in laughter. “What a terrible plan, Klaud. Is it all you could come up with?”

“Only so much I can do with less than eight hours to plan and little information to go on, cat.” Klaud responded.

“Poe—do you know any details of how Ben’s curse was broken? Would he recognize me if I agree to do this?”

Poe shook his head. “That is for him and the Cailleach to know and for you to find out.”


	20. St. Urban

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, 
> 
> Happy All or Nothing Day! Klaud’s "sexy form" is directly inspired by Nick Kellington, the character puppeteer/actor for Klaud in TRoS. He’s kinda an underrated snack, ain’t gonna lie. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

While Klaud and Bebe retired to another room to discuss battle plans, Poe braided Rey’s hair with quick and nimble fingers in the main room of the wine cellar. He sat her down on a hefty woven wicker basket to do so. Thin strips of tanned leather held the completed braids in place.

About halfway through the styling Rey felt Poe gasp a large mass of her unbraided hair close to her scalp and pulled tight, forcing her head back to look up into his eyes. His expression had changed for warm and inviting to cool and aggressive. “Miss Johnson, before you go out there you must swear to me that you will remember this: you shall thank no one in this court.” His voice dropped into a low, threatening tone to match his demeanor. “Every time you expressed gratitude to me in the past twenty minutes, I felt nothing but the overwhelming desire to force a goblet of our wine down your little throat. You may be favored by two powerful aos si, but you are a mere tool in my plan to become the successor to this throne. Nothing more. If you fail in removing the crown prince from this place, I will come to collect my due in whatever manner I’d like after you leave Mansa’s protection and return to your home country. Do I make myself understood?”

Rey cringed. She’d gotten so comfortable around far playing pretend human that she’d forgotten to use the proper etiquette emphasized again and again in the fairytales. It was different when the magical beings were living, breathing persons. Mansa’s and Ben’s cautions about the dangers of their world came flooding back to her. Rey tried to avert her eyes from Poe’s stare.

 _Idiot. Stupid_.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good girl.” Poe released his grip on her hair and continued his gentle braiding. Rey stared straight ahead, willing herself not to break down in front of this stranger. After he secured a tortoiseshell comb at the back of her scalp, Poe stood and surveyed his handiwork.

“You look sufficient. I must go change for the event. One of your companions will meet with you shortly to help you with the rest of the preparations.” Without a single word more or a simple glance back, Poe left the room.

Rey slouched and let out a shaky breath, panicked thoughts racing across her mind.

“‘Poe’ Damon is one of the kinder unseely, if you can believe that.”

She looked up and saw Bebe sitting with his tail curled over his paws in the open doorway.

“Klaud felt your distress and asked me to eavesdrop.” Bebe took a couple bounding leaps and jumped up into Rey’s lap. He turned around and sat down to give Rey a curious look with his large owl eyes.

“I see.”

“He’s stressed, but I feel like he is quite understandably so. Poe has always been like this before executing plans, whether they be battlefield strategies and court espionage. Even when he’s surprising lovers...he gets too focused on the irritants rather than the big picture. Seems to be a common trend among the mortals of our kind.”

“Will he make good on his promise?”

“Absolutely. It won’t be too burdensome of a favor, though. It is likely that he will require you to carry his child. A common consequence for disrespecting one of his kind if the girl is healthy.”

Rey felt a cold shiver travel up her spine. “ _That’s horrible_.”

“It’s only seven years and a little mental and physical effort, no? You’re young and healthy, you will still have many decades of your life to enjoy.” Bebe blinked once and resumed his stare. “You won’t lose your senses, your freedoms, or your mortality. Consider yourself blessed that you thanked a selkie and not another type of folk.”

“It’s still _not_ okay.”

“And to me you’re little more than a large emerald moth. So I don’t particularly care for your human politics more than I have to for Mansa’s sake.”

“Then why did you leave the court?”

Bebe curled up on Rey’s lab and cocked his head to one side.

“If I may ask.”

“You may ask but I am not obligated to reply.”

“Very fair.”

“But I will tell you this: the court does not take kindly to folk who do not have a humanoid form to take. I have transformed nine times. Figure out the rest.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Precisely. Mansa offered me a place by her side and I took it.”

“That is very kind of her.”

“I’m a cat. It isn’t like I take up much space.” Bebe stood and precariously balanced on Rey’s legs.

“Come, time runs short. We need to falsify an enchantment on you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Give you the appearance of a servant.” Bebe paused and gave his ear a good scratch with his back leg. “Without it, I guarantee that you’ll carry an aos sí child by the end of the night. Klaud told me I need to practice this enchantment so I’ll be performing it instead of him.”

“That’s fine?”

Bebe raised up on his haunches and rested his front paws on Rey’s shoulders. With a firm kitty forehead nudge, he pressed his little head to hers.

“ _Put not this child into their hands_.”

White sparks flashed before her eyes and Rey blinked rapidly to clear them from her sight. When Rey opened her eyes after the seventh blink, it was like she was the world through beige piece of chiffon.

Bebe, black coat now sparkling with golden hues, jumped down and looked Rey up and down from where he stood at her feet.

“Wait here for one moment.” Bebe ran out of the room and brought back...a man. He was a rather handsome older man who looked to be in his early forties with cropped black hair, wide cheek bones, and a low set mouth. He was dressed in black dress pants and a burgundy smoking jacket. Upon the man’s head was a strange pale gold circlet with blue tipped spikes projecting from either side of his head. He approached and encircled her with a concentrated look on his face.

“Ah, Rey—your hair looks charming! Poe knows how to make a lady look presentable. Give me your outer layers, will you?” The voice was unmistakable.

“...Klaud?”

“Ah! Ignore this, I cannot show up to such an event looking like my normal self, can I? Would be the only balding man there.”

“I see.” Rey removed the robe and her jacket and gave them to him. Klaud draped them over his arm with a flourish.

“What do you think of my handiwork?” Bebe interrupted impatiently.

“Quite good, quite good. It’ll work for today, yes? The enchantment, that is.”

Bebe looked about as proud as a cat could ever be at his response. Klaud’s eyes travelled down to Rey’s dress.

“The dress, though…”

“Yes?” Rey asked.

“It’s too…modest. What are you wearing underneath?”

“A plain black bra and underwear…?”

“Hm. You’ll need to strip down to those and just wear the dress I provide you with. I’m sorry.”

“…Not like I have much of a choice, do I?”

“No, unfortunately.”

“Fine.” Klaud politely looked away while holding out the sheer navy dress. Rey unbuttoned the back of the woolen dress and wriggled out of it. After she shrugged on the new outfit and fasten the clasp, Klaud looked back at her with her approval. “Much better,” he said with a pitying smile.

“What’s next?” Rey fussed with adjusting the sleeves.

“We will guide you out of the cellar and to the kitchens. Follow the rest of the servants from there to throne room—there you will find Ben. Tread lightly, now, never look too inquisitive. Do not say a word to anyone you don’t know.” Bebe stressed.

“Pretend to be a naïve Disney princess.”

“No singing, though.”

Rey, despite the worm of fear and stress wriggling up inside her, couldn’t help but crack a grin. “Got it.”

Klaud led Bebe and Rey into the stony underground servant corridors before parting ways. Based on earlier patrols of the area, Bebe reported that they were empty on account of everyone being upstairs.

They relied on Bebe’s night vision to navigate the maze, fearing that lighting the extinguished torches that lined the pathways may alert guards.

“Rey!” Klaud said in a voice a bit louder than a noisy whisper once they reached a fork in the passageways.

“Yes?” She answered back in the same tone.

“Here.” Klaud stuck his hand in his robe and pulled out a wine bottle of pale green glass that shouldn’t have been able to fit in there previously. The liquor inside looked like rosé wine and Rey could smell the distinct sweet smell of golden-yellow apples coming from it. He gave it to Rey with a “Good luck!” on his lips before taking the corridor that disappeared down a flight of stairs.

Bebe and Rey took the other corridor. They must have traversed down fifteen more stretches of hall before finally stopping the foot of a stone hewn staircase that led up to heavy iron double doors. The thin, opaque windows in the doors betrayed a warm, yellow light. Rey listens to the muffled noises of shouting voices and of pots, silverware, and ceramic clattering about.

“Here are the kitchens.” Bebe said, placing his paws on the first step and opening his mouth to use his Flamin’s reponse. “You’ll be safe entering the kitchen. I leave you here.”

“Before you leave—why did Klaud give me this bottle?”

“I have no inkling of what that might be about. It is for you to decide. Just know I will be watching you remotely. When the time is right, I will come for you. Be ready.”

Rey nodded and watched the cat, who never glanced over his shoulder even once, disappear back into the darkness of the corridor.

After Rey gave herself several moments to gather herself, she gripped the neck of the wine bottle in her right hand and marched up the stairs. Her courage faltered before she opened the door for a dramatic entrance, but Rey had the guts left to crack open the door for a peek inside. She was greeted by a gust of heat, delicious scents, and the sight of dozens of young people rushing about a low lite but gorgeous white marbled kitchen with high curved ceilings. They were all dressed like Rey was: plain-faced, elaborately braided hair held up with elaborate combs, boots, and the same long-sleeved, high-necked navy dresses. Like hers, the cloth was see-through—underneath they wore nothing but simple undergarments. Something about their mannerisms, though, felt off.

A short, squat-faced man in what looked to be a suit of yellowed leather scurried about, shouting orders and admonishing servants as they replenished the empty trays of food and drink that the young women seemingly designated as servers dropped off. The young women would drop off these trays in front of the kitchen staff, scurry over to pick up a ready silver tray of sweetmeats, desserts, or small glasses of drink lining several scattered tables, and then disappear back outside like focused ants.

_You got this. Open the door quickly and jump in line._

Rey, brave as she would ever be, opened the cellar door with her right hand, stepped up the last two steps of the staircase, and closed it in one fluid motion.

Her entrance was immediately noticed.

“ _You._ Human girl! Where have you been?” The short man hopped down from the barstool he was standing on and marched over to where she stood. The tips of his wispy white hair reached the top of her hip in stature.

Frozen in fear, Rey said nothing but shakily held out the bottle of wine.

The man’s eyes widened as he snatched it from her. He turned it about this way and that in her hands.

“Come.”

Rey followed the man back to where he scurried about and collected wine glasses to put on a small bronze tray. He uncorked the bottle with a satisfying pop, waited for a bit of light blue mist to come out, and poured four glasses of the pink alcohol.

“Here.” The man carefully transferred the tray into her hands. “Do not spill. I trust you know who to give this to.”

Rey gave a small half courtesy and joined the train of servants, following a beautiful woman about her age with dark, curly hair. Up close, she could see what her companions must have meant by what the guise of an enchantment. The servant before her had what looked like flecks of gold leaf embedded in her hair. As she looked about, Rey noticed that her dulled amber eyes had a curious yellow-amber glow akin to eye shine in the sparsely candle lit halls they walked through.

Rey heard the orgy before she saw it. The sounds of moans, panting, climaxing, and orgasms from all kind of participants were obvious and evident and grew louder as they entered the royal court room. The scent of sex hit her nostrils.

The room itself was a marvel that would rival the luxury of Versailles. The ceiling was made of gigantic knotted tree roots that were bent and shaped to resemble ancient Irish knots akin to the ones that Rose had showed her in the past on stone grave and markers. Beautiful mats and silk pillows were spread out over the tiled slate floors for participants to use.

Hundreds of humanoid bodies writhed in pleasure around her, covering every square inch of the room. Some acts of intimacy she recognized as she discreetly watched: oral, voyeurism, cuckholding, heavy petting, fingering, and full on penetrative sex in every position imaginable. Others, she didn’t know what was happening in the least. One fae with a feminine face had a body covered in leaves—they shuddered and twisted as another fae appeared to lick and nibble on them. They groaned as their partner pulled out a leaf and tossed it over their head. But up on the elevated platform…

Rey felt a tug on her dress. She turned, trying not to spill her glasses in the movement.

“Hello, pretty girl.” Rey felt fleeting relief as she saw a sloppily intoxicated Klaud pants-less and fucking a young man from behind against the wall. “Here to have some fun?”

“How do I get up to the stage?”

Klaud’s eyes lingered on the drinks on Rey’s tray but he didn’t cease in his thrusts. “Staircase is on the right side. Don’t step on any participants while you’re at it.”

Rey dipped her head in thanks before moving on. She precariously navigated her way amongst the bodies, with a few fae stopping and moving out of her way with only a glance to the drinks she carried. 

Unclothed, he sat upon an ornately carved padded chair covered in gilded gold. Over his biceps were snugly fit gold armlets with broad bands. On his calves were two matching golden bands. One woman, a thin waif of a lady half-clothed in a loose white shift, sat between his legs and serviced him orally. The other, a naked curvy woman, grinded against his opposite thigh while he explored the planes of her body with one hand. He pressed possessive and experienced kisses to her wanting mouth and she moaned loudly as he firmly grabbed her ass. Ben lustily but deftly split his attention between the two women with heavily lidded eyes.

Rey watched for way too long before she cleared her throat loudly. That failed to catch any of the three’s attention.

“My lord.” Still they failed to break their attention from each other.

Desperation took over her entire thought process. She sat down the tray on a waiting table and walked over where he sat. Rudely grabbing his free hand that rested on the arm of the throne, Rey pressed his knuckles against her sweaty forehead and dropped into a deep curtsey.

“Lord Beiricheart. I come with the wine you requested.”


	21. St. Dwynwen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Thank you for your patience. Isecá, if you haven’t guessed, is this fic’s version of Resistance pilot Jessika Pava from the sequel trilogy. I am sad that there aren't many well-developed female characters and we never really see any strong female friendships in those movies among the younger characters. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Rey’s heart squeezed as time stopped around her. She posed there in a deep curtsey, waiting for Ben to take a glance her way. The comb at the nape of her neck started to come loose and she wanted nothing more than to adjust her bra straps under her dress.

_Please._

_Please remember me._

_Please._

_For both of your sakes._

_You must._

She stayed in her curtsey, waiting for _any_ words of recognition of his part.

 _Say my name_.

“Girls, get off.” His voice was deeper than she remembered, cool as sea mist and gravelly as the ocean floor. Rey listened to the slaps of bare feet as the two women scrambled off of him, but she remained frozen in her position. She stopped breathing as Ben curled his hand around her fingers and squeezed so tightly that Rey fought to not wince in discomfort.

“Servant girl. Look at me.” If he had been drinking like her companions had warned her about, he hid it well.

Rey’s body remained still, but she brought her eyes up to Ben’s face. Her hand remained clamped in his warm one.

He looked healthier than she’d ever seen him. He had some color back in his face that he hadn’t had on Inishmore. The deep shadows under his eyes were less noticeable. But the way he looked at her—emotions carefully guarded in an aloof manner that monarchs in the news and movies always have—made Rey feel like she was staring into the face of a stranger. She forced herself to remain silent. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. To tangle her hands into his hair and kiss him with all her might or to grab him by the shoulders, dig her fingernails painfully into his skin, and violently shake him as best she could.

_Please._

_I miss you._

_Jesus, I miss you._

Rey fought to keep any semblance of emotion from coming to her face. He studied her curiously, the eyes of a cat studying a mouse.

_PLEASE._

Without a single sound, Ben abruptly stood, grasped her waist with wide hands, and threw her over his right shoulder. He walked with alacrity off stage, ignoring the environment around him completely and carelessly stepping on hands, sprawled limbs, feet, and tails in his haste. From her perspective, Rey watched everyone cease in their activities and silently watch the curious scene of their future king abruptly abandoning his two gorgeous companions and carrying off a random human servant out of the room in the middle of an orgy.

She could practically read their thoughts from their facial expressions which bordered on amused disgust.

 _Human lover_.

_Human fucker._

_Weak prince._

_Not long._

_Rebellion._

_Violence._

_Death._

_Soon._

Rey tried her best to search the crowd from her precarious angle to spot _any_ familiar face—Klaud, Poe, Bebe, even Sloane. Though Klaud was there no more than three minutes ago, he was now swallowed up by the crowd and out of eyesight. Nothing but strange eyes with many differently shaped pupils dulled from alcohol and whatever else they used during their Dionysian engagements watched her.

Ben exited the courtroom through a side door that led directly to a tall tight limestone spiral staircase lit by floating candles lit up by silver-blue light.

_Ben’s magic._

“Ben—” Rey uttered in a hushed tone.

“Stay silent.” The order came as an uncharacteristic bark. Rey complied immediately and focused on not passing out as she engaged her core to not hang there like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. She focused on his breathing as he ascended the stairs with her in tow.

At the top of the stairs, Ben stopped and muttered something under his breath. Rey listened to the creak of a wooden door and precariously tried to look over her shoulder into the next room, getting only a glance at a round opaque window that let in the cool mid-morning sunlight and white-washed walls. 

“I’m setting you down.”

With surprising gentleness, Ben sat her down on the edge of a broad, raised bed. The headboard was made of intertwined antlers and long bones from elk. Rey immediately identified the smooth bedspread under her: a soft and fuzzy silver pelt with black dapples and a black, eyeless hood. This place was likely to be nothing else but a room in the prince’s private quarters.

He stepped back and stared at her with his hands on his hips and his lips pressed into a thin line.

“ _You_.” The word came out with a quiver of pure, unadulterated fury. Rey tried not to cringe at the amount of venom that simmered under the surface. Forcing herself not to let her gaze wander up and down his body, she focused her eyes on the scar, now faded to a pale pink, that started it all at the base of his throat.

“ _Who are you?_ ”

Rey brought her sight up to his face and was greeted with no warmth or tenderness in his hazel eyes.

“I’m…”

Then she remembered.

_Stupid girl._

_Speak of no gratitude to them._

_Never reveal your true name to the folk._

_Never give the folk the means to discover your name._

_…I can’t tell him anything._

“I’m nobody. Nobody of particular importance.”

The corner of his mouth threatened to turn up.

“Miss Nobody. I see.”

“Do…do you not recognize me? At all?”

“You’re not one of our servants. I am certain of that, at least. Your face haunts my dreams. We have a history of some form.” Ben rubbed his jaw in irritation and continued to speak in his direct and stern tone—the intonation of a career investigator. “I repeat my question only one more time: who are you?”

_He doesn’t remember me._

Rey remembered Poe’s fist in her hair. 

_I’ve failed._

“Do not test my patience.”

“Do—do you remember the night we met? During the storm?”

Ben gave the hints a few moments of thought before reaching an unclear conclusion. His eyes widened for just the briefest moment, but he shook his head.

 _Ben, what happened to you?_ Rey thought frantically.

“Anything— _anything_ at all—do you remember a spear?”

“The _what?”_

“In your neck. You nearly bled out on me.”

Ben paused again and confusion showed on his face for the briefest moment. He narrowed his eyes.

“ _What_ do you want from me? A fortune? Fame? A blessing?”

Rey’s heart felt like it was about to be crushed into a hundred tiny pieces.

“Just you. I want you. I come to take you back.”

Rey got nothing but a cruel, mocking smile in response.

“Take me back to where? One of my own tries to use my affection for humans, I see. Lure me out. Thrust a knife into my gut and twist. Cut my throat for good measure.”

“ _Never_ —”

“Who smuggled you into court?” Ben asked, abruptly changing the subject. “Who put you up to this?”

Nausea resurfaced.

“Sloane?”

Rey shook her head.

“My uncle?”

“I have never made his acquaintance.”

“A knight?”

“…I came here of my own volition.”

“One of my mother’s camarilla?”

Rey remained silent and dropped her eyes to her hands. Even looking at him in this unusual state was painful.

“…I see. Did you come inside through the wine cellars?”

Ben stooped to study her face after no response on her part. “I will take that as a ‘yes’ then. I will hunt down your co-conspirators. Do not think you can conceal them. I _know_ that the being who provided you your protection spell is quite a powerful individual.”

_Is this the “real” Ben?_

“…If you have nothing else to say, I will give you the pleasure of escorting you down to the holding cells myself. They are more…efficient at extracting information from unwanted visitors.”

Rey’s mind danced frantically for ways to prolong the conversation and her presence in this room.

_A kiss?_

_Kisses work in fairytales. Fairy tale logic, right?_

_Ben said not to—but we are no longer bound. It should be okay, right?_

Her stomach twisted with unease.

“My lord.”

Rey stood and adjusted her bra straps.

“Yes?”

“I lied to you. I do have a request, actually.”

“What is it?”

“…A kiss?” Rey hated how pitiful and clumsy her entreaty sounded. “If I can’t bring you back, I want a kiss from you.”

“I presume you desire the chance to bite my tongue off.”

“Never. Just kiss me.”

Ben gave her a look of repulsed consideration.

“That’s it. All I want.” Rey again felt the tears begin to prick but she stayed steady. “Make it quick.”

“You lie.”

“I’m not lying. I never want to lie to you.”

He stared at her too intensely for much too long, his gaze flickering from her face, arms, chest, legs and back up again. Rey stuck her chin out and closed her eyes, willing him to take the first move like she was some goofy inexperienced teenager.

After several seconds of feeling foolish and panicky, the first brush of his lips against hers made her jump in surprise. It was a curious, dry kiss but nevertheless it was an intoxicatingly soft one. Rey opened her eyes in shock at the second tender touch: a light, almost invisible kiss to the corner of her mouth, like a redo of her first kiss to him. She kissed back with a gentle chaste kiss to his upper lip. He gave a heavy sigh and deepened the kiss.

Rey had the occasional horrible, creepy habit of kissing with her eyes opened. She couldn’t help it though. Kisses softened his face back to what _she_ liked—vulnerable and sweet. A bite to his lower lip issued forth a hum of contentment and Ben’s hands carefully climbed up and down her shoulders.

“Little Miss Nobody. What is your true name?” Ben asked in his odd deep voice, now unhindered by a language gap. He wrapped his arms around the small of her waist.

Between soft kisses to distract him, Rey hesitantly placed a hand on the planes of his abdominal muscles and traced them down to his hips. She ran her pointer finger along the outlines of his pelvic bones as she returned his solid, though apparently confused enthusiasm by the way he furrowed his eyebrows. 

“I’m afraid you know I can’t answer that.”

Ben exhaled in an exasperated huff and slid his hand down her arm to press the same hand flat against his pubic area directly under his navel.

“Even if I guarantee that your collaborators will not be executed for treason?”

“Even if you guarantee that my collaborators will not be executed for treason.”

She took notice of the pressure against her thigh and reached down further. When her fingers brushed against the wet head of his cock, he shuddered, jerked back, and held her away by the shoulders at a distance, breathing heavily. His dick twitched and looked painfully hard with the prominent pale blue veins underneath, even more so than when she kissed him in bed.

“Sir…” Rey went to take a further step back, but Ben’s grip held her in place.

“Please.” His voice wavered. Rey’s heart gave a weird half-flop in her chest at how much the word sounded like _her_ selkie. The one she was familiar with. “Tell me your name.” His grip on her shoulders loosened and he gathered her close again.

“…Kira. Kira for now.”

“Kira. Kira, Kira, Kira.” He brought his hands down to the small of her back, pulled up the thin dress, and rubbed small circles into the skin underneath. Rey shuddered as he slid his hands down and cupped her buttocks. “How are you so familiar?” The uncertain confusion was still apparent in his voice.

Rey brought her hand up to his jaw and pressed a strong firm kiss to his mouth. When she withdrew, he looked at her with lidded eyes, squeezed her ass, and let go. “I’m sorry to say, but that’s off limits too.” With her other hand she ran fingertips down to the base of his dick. “But…can I?”

From his throat came the sound of want, somewhere between a groan, whine and whimper. “Mmh.”

“Come to bed.”

His cock was just as silky as the rest of his skin in her hands as she straddled his thighs and wrapped her fingers around it. She leaned over his body, pressed her cheek into the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent: sea spray, sweat and sex. The foreskin peeled back easily with how wet he already was. As she stroked between her legs, Ben tried not to buck his hips as she increased the speed of her hand against his shaft. He breathed heavily when she paid special attention to the rosy head of his pale cock, deftly running her thumb and fingers against the exposed ridge and frenulum on the underside of it while his foreskin was retracted. In other hand, she cradled and gently massaged his testicles when they adjusted position and he pliantly opened his legs wider for her. He tried to hug her to him and dug his fingernails into the skin underneath her shoulder blades. Rey felt him shiver and tremble underneath her, igniting the desire that she had to suppress to comfort him and call him pet names. She stayed silent in her surprise and wariness.

When she heard the creak of the wooden door opening wider, she hurriedly removed her hands and ran them through his hair. He brought his hands up to the middle of her back and pulled her close, squishing him to her. His cock pressed up against her between her legs. Rey fought to not grind against the length of it.

“Ben...?” A young beautiful woman with waist-length black hair stood at the now open door. She was unclothed, but her modesty was preserved by being wrapped up in a dark silver pelt. With wise brown eyes of an owl’s and an intricately carved crystal wine glass in hand, she watched the intertwined couple expressionlessly where they laid. The new selkie looked closer to Ben’s age than her.

“Ise.” With the same physical gentleness that failed to match his intonation and words, Ben untangled Rey’s hand from his hair and sat up. Still completely hard, he let go of her hands with what Rey optimistically hoped may have been with some reluctance and got off the bed. Rey followed his lead.

“I was looking for you. Saltbite told me that I might find you here.”

Isecá walked into the room and circled the two, paying special attention to Rey as if she was a statue on display.

“This might be the first time I’ve ever seen you engaging in some form of intimacy for any reason other than public spectacle.” Wicked amusement danced across her features and she took a sip of her drink. “I thought for many years that you hated physical touch. Is it just the touch from your own kind that makes you recoil?”

“My dear, I—“

“I am no ‘dear’ to you, my sweet fiancé. It appears to me that you still enjoy...the company of your former human fiancée better than mine, curse or no—do not ask me how I know. I will not reveal all my secrets to you.”

Ben’s eyes widened and his attention snapped between Isecá and Rey.

“She’s the one you kept the new scars for, isn’t she? Including the dreadfully ugly one on your back and leg that you hide with a glamour. That’s the rumor in the court gossip, at least.” Isecá talked as if Rey wasn’t in front of them.

Ben didn’t answer. His bewildered expression made Rey wonder if he was trying to recollect his emotions and recall hazy memories.

Isecá’s genuine attention finally switched over to Rey. “Pretty thing, I do applaud your choice in mortal women. Your name, my lovely?”

“Kira Nobody, my lady.” Rey gave a small curtsey.

“Miss Nobody,” Isecá reached out and held Rey’s chin in her hand. She turned Rey’s head this way and that. “I overheard much of your conversation in this room, unfortunately. Including the gasps.” She gave a laugh. “I’ve seen a foolish human man or two try to steal away lovers from this court in my time here, but I’ve never seen a young human girl attempt such a feat.”

“Very few human women have found themselves in the position that I have, my lady.” Rey stumbled over the sentence.

“You cannot come in here and take my fiancé, I am afraid. Unless…” A flicker of a dangerous smirk danced across her features. “You consider my proposal.”


	22. St. Peter of Alcántara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Happy National Cuban Sandwich Day! Thank you for your patience in me getting this chapter out to you. <3 It's always pleasurable to post a chapter! 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“A proposal?”

“Precisely.” Isecá carelessly changed the part of her hair to the other side of her head with a sweep of her hand. “In some way or another, you brought back a priceless bottle of metheglin that was stolen from our cellars several centuries ago.”

“I—it wasn’t wine?”

The selkie shook her head and gave a close-lipped smile. “Not wine. A very special and unusual metheglin made by an important mazer who was often commissioned among our kind. I suppose you could call it a ‘melomel,’ though. The mazer used a variety of a fruit grown only in these lands.”

“…I am not well-versed in spirits.”

“I could tell. Did you not smell the fermented honey?”

Rey shook her head and looked down at her feet.

“I suppose someone important gave you the bottle, yes?” Rey felt Isecá’s owl eyes searching her face. “One of the folk? A clúrachán? Someone who perhaps once was a regular in this court?”

Rey stayed silent.

“Falsehoods are not wise to partake in right now.” Isecá’s voice betrayed an edge of ice. “It is a rare and precious commodity you returned to this court.”

_Stay cool and confident._

“I do not know of the being who gave me the alcohol.”

“Your protection spell indicates otherwise.” Isecá reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Rey’s ear. Her fingertips were soft but cool to the touch.

“I do _not_ know.” Rey emphasized the phrase as she repeated it.

Isecá blinked. “If you desire to take this man...my _dear fiancé_ from this court, I hope you can recover something _more…_ important than a bit of liquor.” Isecá abruptly looked to Ben whose whole body tensed at her gaze. With unspoken words exchanged between them, Ben turned to Rey and pressed his palm cautiously and delicately against the column of her throat. She forced herself to not flinch against the uncertain and potentially threatening touch. Something in her gut told her that Rey could never be too careful, especially in the presence of a now stranger.

“One looming curse. Prevented by her protection for the meantime but it follows her like smoke from a fire.”

 _Damon. He’s trying to curse me?_ The thought danced frantically across Rey’s mind.

“The strong aforementioned protection enchantment, a translation enchantment, and a clothing glamour as well.”

“Thank you, love.” Ben’s non-human fiancée reached over to press a dry kiss to his mouth in thanks. Ben almost reluctantly withdrew his hand from Rey’s skin to wrap his arm around Isecá’s waist. Rey watched and felt the already broken pieces of her heart threaten to crumble into sand as the kiss lingered for longer than she could stand. To busy herself, she forced herself to look away and take the time to again readjust her outfit and fix the comb back into her hair. Finally, they broke apart and Isecá readjusted her seal skin to preserve her modesty.

“My grace,” Rey broke into a polite half-curtsey and forced herself to focus solely on the strange woman. “Please give me your terms and conditions for your proposal.”

“Mmm…my conditions are very simple, Miss Nobody. A sacred object was stolen from our kind during a period that humans calls _The Bronze Age_ and placed it into one of their forts. It has been lost…until several months ago. If you can return this object to my court safely…you have my blessing to take Ben from me. I will not object—I will even arrange a meeting with his mother and the Cailleach to terminate his lineage properly and safely.”

“Terminate…?”

“You _want_ him, don’t you?” Isecá laughed and spoke in a biting, accusatory tone. “If you _want_ to take him back to the world of humans, we cannot leave him in the condition he is in now. Sacrifices will be made. Isn’t that right, love?”

Rey looked to Ben as he gave her a curt but hesitant nod of affirmation. Despite being a full head taller and quite confident no more than a couple minutes ago, he now looked quiet and rather awkward next to the vibrant and striking selkie beside him.

“But _sacrifices_?”

_How does a prince allow a person of inferior rank treat him this way? Talk about him as if he’s a part of the crown jewels._

“Yes. _Sacrifices._ ” The way she said the word gave Rey goosebumps. She had a hunch that if she pressed for details, she would see this proposal ripped out of her hands and a trip down to the holding cells.

“Is that correct, my prince?” Isecá reiterated. Ben nodded once more.

“Un—understood.”

“Good.”

“But also—if I fail, what are the consequences for me?” Rey permitted her voice to take on a slight steely edge to mask the lack of confidence she felt.

Isecá paused, gave the idea a couple moments of thought, and grinned cruelly. Rey just now noticed that her teeth were different from Ben’s, which were still remarkably human in appearance despite his unique smile. Her visible incisors were tiny contrasted against her oversized canines: these were undoubtedly seal teeth in her mouth, not human-looking in the least. “I am curious to see what the curse is that trails behind you. Perhaps I will simply watch it play out without interference. Or perhaps I will plan for something worse than what it carries. Who knows? You are not entitled to my thoughts.”

Rey curtseyed again.

“Ah, but first…what if we make a “trial run,” as your lot are known to call it, before I give you the details of what I expect you to find? Let’s see if you even are able to recover objects on your own without assistance.” Isecá’s smile remained plastered on her face as she downed the last contents of her glass and carelessly set it on the floor. She walked over and pulled Ben’s silver pelt off the bed in a single swift movement.

“Do you know what this is?” She held it up as if it was a quilt and flipped over so Rey could examine both the outside and the tanned underside.

 _Ben’s skin._ Panic began again in her chest. She looked over to Ben and saw the same stoic aristocratic expression that greeted her in the throne room.

 _Ben. Why won’t you say_ something _?_

_Please. Say anything._

“I presume that this is a familiar enough object for you to recognize in a strange setting, Miss Nobody? Seems like a good enough candidate for this little game that we are about to play.” Isecá crumpled the pelt mindlessly into a balled-up wad and tucked it under her arm. Rey wanted to do nothing but run up to her and yank it out of her hands. “The rules are simple. I will hide this skin in the next twenty minutes. It will be somewhere within entire interior of the castle, excluding the throne room. You have until the band’s last song in this evening’s set to recover it and return it to me here in the prince’s quarters.”

“What do I get in exchange?”

“Why! My true proposal, of course.”

“What if I recover it in less than four hours?”

“Hm.” Isecá stewed over the idea.

“Please grant me the ability to spend the night with Ben—I mean, the prince. Alone and here in his quarters. I will leave early in the morning, before anyone notices anything amiss. Before sunrise.”

 _This might be the last time I will ever see Ben alive, healthy, and whole._

Isecá’s face betrayed her amused glee. “That sounds like an agreeable enough arrangement if you recover the skin in less than four hours.”

“Shake to it, then.”

“Very well.” The selkie pinched the pointer finger of Rey’s extended hand between her thumb and forefinger and squeezed tightly. “Humans and your little displays of agreement. They amuse me. Yes, well, it appears that we shouldn’t delay our little game for any longer…”

“Ben, restrain her until twenty minutes is up, then escort her to the main hallway. I expect you to go back to the throne room after all this is said and done and rejoin the courtiers.”

“Yes.” He spoke under his breath.

“Oh. And blindfold her.” Isecá’s horrid seal smile reemerged on her face.

“Yes.”

“Good man.”

Ben and Rey watched as Isecá left the room and squarely shut the door behind them. Ben quietly went to a door cast in bronze that Rey recognized quickly as some sort of closet. He reemerged with a long length of a black silky fabric. A shiver of uncertainty ran down Rey’s back.

“Ben…”

“Please comply. Put this on.”

“Why? Why didn’t you say anything about her handling your skin like that?”

“I’m not free to make many of my own decisions…it will be much easier if you go along with what is requested of you here.”

Rey looked at the sinewy muscles in Ben’s forearms and hands as he held out the cloth, now folded like a bandanna to her.

“You won’t harm me?”

“Miss Kira…I will not harm you in any way.” It was in this sentence that Rey heard the gentle rumble and unsure intonation of _her_ selkie. The selkie she was probably quite deeply in love with.

Ben _._

_Ben._

**_Ben._ **

In the throes of uncertainty, adrenaline, and fear, her stomach gave a small flop of joy.

“Then show me the scar the duchess spoke of. Then you can blindfold me.”

“Which one?”

“The one you hide with a glamour.”

Ben’s eyebrows furrowed, but he gave Rey a slow nod. “Very well.”

He turned—the same broad back, thick thighs, and toned butt that Rey remembered, but this time unblemished by a mark.

He mumbled something under his breath that Rey did not catch, but the pale skin quickly began shimmering and shattering away like a reflection on a disturbed lake. When the magic subsided, Rey could do nothing but grind her jaw. A huge tanned contracture scar primarily comprised of ropy formations covered the entire expanse of skin where the mark once was.

“Ben—” Rey felt herself go into shock at the sight.

_Don’t cry, Rey._

_No weakness._

_Ben, no…_

_I never could protect you._

_I’m sorry._

_So, so, so sorry._

_I hurt you._

“Please. Save your pity for someone else. I do not need to be continually reminded of it.” Ben turned back to her. “I chose to bear this scar. To remind myself of my errors.”

“But you don’t remember me?”

“Based on the little bits of memory I can recall, I choose to presume you are another error that I do not wish to repeat again.”

“ _What?_ Ben…”

 _Am I here for nothing?_ The thought alone made her eyes sting. 

“’Your Highness’ or ‘My Lord’ are my preferred titles.”

_No tears._

“My lord,” Rey paused to clear her throat. “You may now blindfold me.”

“As you wish.”

Ben’s fingers were again gentle and soft against Rey’s head as he wrapped the cloth around her head and secured it with a large knot at the base of her skull. After she felt him secure it with a final tug, Ben didn’t withdraw his arms from touching her person. She felt him lean towards her and press the weight of his ventral forearms into her shoulders with his fingers locked between her shoulder blades.

“I must confess, Little Miss Nobody. When I stopped to look at you in the throne room, seeing your face was like…seeing a ghostly spirit. Not a vengeful being—no, a benevolent spirit in the human sense that you welcome the presence of in your household. I felt relief.”

That stumbling explanation was too much for watery-eyed Rey to hear. She closed her eyes tighter and two fat teardrops escaped, wetting her blindfold. “If I can provide you with even a little bit of comfort, it will have been worth it.”

Rey almost jumped again when she felt the press of Ben’s lips against hers. She gave herself the permission to once again tangle her hand in his hair and firmly return the soft, velvety kiss before breaking way. Ben gave a heavy sigh ( _too short?_ Rey wondered) but buried his face into the crook of her neck in response.

His lips and breath tickled against her neck as he spoke his final words to Rey before the game began. “No matter what the outcome is or my personal opinion on the circumstances may be, I wish you nothing but success in your endeavors.”


	23. St. George

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, 
> 
> Happy National Ampersand Day! I hope you & your loved ones are well. We are getting to the end-ish of this fic (unless I have to extend the chapter count again...) and what a journey! I am excited to ride it out with you all. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

After the blindfolded kiss, Ben left Rey alone during the rest of their wait in his chambers. Rey awkwardly sat down where she previously stood on the cool floor and did nothing but hyper focus on presence of her selkie. He couldn’t have been more than a little ways away from her, as he exhaled loudly three times and cleared his throat once during their wait in close proximity. She wanted no more than to fumble about blindly and touch him.

_Hold my hand._

Rey squeezed her fingers between her thighs and tried to force her thoughts elsewhere. The more she poured over the task before her, the more daunting it became.

_This is a huge building. It could be anywhere._

Similar thoughts came crashing down one after another. Rey’s heartbeat pulsed in her throat.

They sat there in silence for what seemed to be an eternity before Rey heard Ben approach her again and kneel behind her. Rey froze in her panicked thoughts as she felt Ben’s fingers against her hair as he undid the knot of the blindfold in a slower manner than what was probably necessary.

“Your time is up.”

As Rey’s vision returned with the slip of the fabric, she refused to look over her shoulder and stared straight ahead at the chamber entrance. If she looked at Ben, Rey had no idea what foolish thing she’d do.

“…You should go.”

“I know.” Rey rolled her shoulders back with a satisfying crack. “I’m leaving.”

“Hm.”

Rey swallowed her gratitude and took several steps toward the entrance before she felt Ben’s hand reach out and grab her wrist with a tender firmness.

“No…don’t go back through the throne room. Go this way.”

Rey turned and kept her eyes to the ground while Ben guided her in the opposite direction through a series of rooms that she presumed were also part of his quarters. She all but focused her eyes on the pale stone floor and Ben’s heels.

They stopped at what appeared to be a dark and short doorway in the corner of a small, empty room at the very back of his chambers.

“Wait. Stay.” Ben let go of Rey’s hand and disappeared into another room. Rey lifted her eyes and surveyed this space which was devoid of furniture. It was completely built out of stacked black drystone absent of mortar in between and had a high, domed ceiling with a small circular hole at the apex. Pale blue morning light penetrated but didn’t permeate her surroundings. Rey recognized what it resembled: the interior of a clochán, or a beehive hut. Rose dragged her to many in the southwest portion of the country during her initial Irish archaeology sightseeing binge prior to her stint on Inishmore. Its eerie resemblance to the curious archaeological structures made Rey shiver.

When Rey again heard Ben’s footsteps, she directed her sight downward once again.

“Here.” Ben grabbed her hand and guided her fingers around a cool wax cylinder. Rey glanced upward to the object. A slender and rather elegant handmade tallow candle with a flickering blue-silver flame illuminated the space around her.

_Ben’s magic._

“It won’t go out—even if you drop it.” Ben struggled to control a hint of shy eagerness in his cool and level manner of speaking. “Wax will not drip onto your fingers. The flame will not burn you.”

Rey hesitated before dropping into a polite half curtsey with a prayer that Ben wouldn’t misconstrue the respectful gesture as thankfulness and proceed accordingly. “I must be off.” She turned and shined the enchanted candle towards the entrance that Ben recommended she go through—the light revealed the narrow steps of a tight spiral staircase.

_A servant’s entrance, maybe?_

“Go down the stairs. Do not stop until you reach the bottom.”

Without another word or glance, Rey entered the staircase and was down ten steps before she heard the prince politely call after her.

“Goodbye, Kira.”

***

Rey held the light before her like a sword as she rushed down what seemed like a never-ending staircase. True to Ben’s word, the light never wavered in intensity, no matter how much she swung the light this way and that. No windows or slats were present in this stone corridor to suggest just how high or low she might be in the castle. Every fifty steps or so, identical doors made out of some variety of granite with copper handles and locks were haphazardly hewn into the wall with no small steps in front of them to step up on. Rey began counting the doors to have some resemblance of progress as she switched between running down every step and hopping down two steps at a time.

 _Don’t stop ‘til you reach the end._ Rey stifled her nerves with Ben’s advice and repeated it over and over again in her mind.

After seven doors, Rey’s thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like the chirp of a cat.

“Bebe?” Rey called out before her. “You there?” Now sweating, Rey again picked up her pace and rushed ahead.

Another chirp. Two doors past.

“Bebe! Please!” Rey’s chest felt tight and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the exertion or her emotions. “Stop. Stop moving.”

A third chirp, this time sounding much fainter. A tenth door past.

“You. Damn. Cat.” Rey panted between each breath. She slowed for a brief moment and let her hand slide along the cool stone wall. “Give me advice or leave me be.” She studied the candle in her hand and permitted herself to walk for just the minimum amount of time allowed to slow her heart rate.

No more chirps or meows were heard. Rey sighed and continued on. It was only another thirty-three steps before Rey nearly stepped on a small crumpled cheese cloth tied up in red twine precariously resting on the edge of a step adjacent to the eleventh door.

Rey stooped and picked it up. She immediately recognized what it was as soon as she traced the strange shape of its contents in both hands. Flipping it over and holding it to the candle light, she found a note stuck to its other side. With some difficulty, she made out what the words penned in violet ink and delicate script were on the paper.

_R—_

_For the Duke’s eyes only._

_K._

Rey groaned and, after searching for a place to secure it, begrudgingly tucked it in the hip band of her underwear. After a final deep breath, Rey continued her descent down the stairs until she turned the corner and beheld an identical entrance to the one in Ben’s chambers. Rey nearly shouted with joy at the sight of the opening.

The staircase opened into a hall that Rey hadn’t seen before. It was smaller than the ones that led to the throne room, but it was by no means a continued servant’s corridor. The floor was an elaborate forest green and chartreuse mosaic with tiles that closely resembled precious stones with asterisms that created stars on their surfaces. The ceiling was covered in a fresco depicting the step by step abduction of a young blonde maiden by a red-eyed kelpie with a black coat. The final scene showed the corpse of the frail maiden, now bloated and decaying, submerged in the water. The kelpie hung over her and pulled out her small intestines to consume with a blood and gore-covered mouth. Rey shivered at the scene and rubbed her arms, willing herself to be brave just two more times. She pulled out the package and read the message again before putting it back on her hip.

 _“The Duke.”_

_What duke? Is there more than one? Surely there is...how could only one reside in this building?_

A servant, a girl of perhaps eighteen with thick curly hair and skin the same fair tone as the maiden’s in the fresco, hurried by Rey with a plate of thinly sliced meats balanced on one hand and a tray of amber-hued alcohol in small crystal flutes on the other.

_A servant must know, right?_

“Excuse me!” Rey jogged after the girl who was walking deceptively quickly for how smooth her stride was.

The girl stopped and turned almost mechanically. When she laid her odd bewitched eyes on Rey, her face blossomed into a beautiful smile and she sunk to an effortless deep curtsey. “My lady. How may I help you?”

Rey stopped and balked in surprise. She was still dressed in the servant garb and had the spell of anonymity weighing heavy on her person— _Does it not work on the servants?_

“You are mistaken. I’m no lady!”

“How may I help you?” The girl repeated again without a hint of hesitation or acknowledgement at Rey’s denial.

“I seek audience with ‘the Duke.’”

“His lordship will not fulfill favors with any being taking part in this week’s festivities.” The girl spoke the sentence as if she was repeating a memorized rule.

“No—I do not seek his audience on those terms.”

“Please state your reasoning for seeing him then?”

“I must return an object that a court member borrowed from him.” 

The girl cocked her head like a dog taking a moment to interpret a command and broke back into her empty smile. “Then follow me.”

Rey followed the girl, who didn’t slow in her pace one bit, as they travelled down the length of two more hallways, these absent of any notable decoration. Rey watched as the cool stone floor under her feet gradually transformed into wood covered with smooth tan bark.

The girl stopped abruptly at a nondescript wooden door about halfway down the third corridor they entered.

She looked over to Rey and indicated the door with a nod. “Knock three times.”

Rey complied and rapped on the door with her knuckles. The girl left her without another word, walking back down the hall from where they came to deliver her delicacies. 

Rey pulled the packet out from where she had it tucked away in her hip band and fiddled with it in her hands, feeling at the solid contents through the cloth. It definitely had a handle, but the rest of it was a bit strange.

_Hairbrush, maybe?_

It was too square for that.

Rey resisted the urge to knock again—certainly she wouldn’t have been given Mas’ gift if it wouldn’t help with the challenge ahead of her? She would have—what, two more hours before she failed the challenge? She pushed the deep primal fear as far back in her mind as she could.

_Focus, Rey. Focus._

After several more minutes of standing there stupidly in the hall, Rey’s curiosity emboldened her just enough to press her ear to the door.

“Patience, girl.” Rey jumped back as the gruff voice of an older man manifested directly in her mind. “I will address you when I am able to.”

Rey took three steps back and waited, stone-still, for what seemed like way too long before the door slowly swung open on its own accord.

“Enter, but do not touch anything.” said the voice in her mind. Rey obeyed. The door slammed shut behind her and she cringed in response.

The room inside was a compact and rather cramped study with an ugly burgundy carpet. If it belonged to an old tenured professor who was three years away from retirement, the room wouldn’t be out of place in the English department of a prestigious university. Scores of old books and dusty scrolls were stuffed into tall hardwood bookshelves. An enormous oak desk tucked into furthest corner from where Rey stood held even more stacks of loose papers and books. A man sat at this desk in a lumpy matching swivel chair. He poured over some yellowed document underneath an antique banker’s desk lamp. Without looking at Rey, the man made a beckoning finger motion with his free hand while he scribbled some notes in the margin with a fancy fountain pen. Rey felt her legs move of their own accord as she walked over to stand beside the desk, taking care to avoid stacks of literature piled on the floor.

“My lord—”

 _Silence._ The voice again channeled itself directly into her brain. 

Rey took the opportunity to study the man with long greying hair that appeared combed but otherwise ill-kept. Though completely clothed in some sort of cream and white robe with a leather belt around his middle, he wore a seal skin around his shoulders like a shawl—similar to the manner that Ben seemed to prefer. Rey noticed the fur was also a beautiful silver mottled with black splotches.

_It’s just like Ben’s._

_A hooded seal. A hooded selkie who can use magic._

_“The Duke?”_

Rey mentally retraced Mas’ and Ben’s stories.

_Is this…Ben’s uncle? Wouldn’t he be a prince…?_

“I am he you seek. Lúcás, Duke of the Maritime Glaciers. Yes, I am ‘Ben’s uncle.’” The Duke used his mouth this time. He looked up at her with an expression of indifference, though Rey noticed how his eyes went to the candle in her hand for a millisecond. He had a tired, bearded face with deep crow’s feet wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. In these wrinkles, Rey saw just enough of a resemblance to Ben for her heart to ache for the briefest moment. “What do you have for me?”

Without a word, Rey curtseyed and presented the cheese cloth package in her free hand. Taking care not to have skin to skin contact, Lúcás plucked it from her hand and opened the package without a flourish. Inside was an antique carding comb of iron spikes and wood covered in gold leaf. Small elm and oak leaves were intricately carved along the rim of the comb and down the handle. Rey had never seen something so exquisitely unique. Rose would have cried at such a unique and well-preserved artifact.

“Hmph. Didn’t think it’d take twenty-five years for Mansa to bring this piece of shit back to me.”

Lúcás threw it over his shoulder and it landed with a clatter on the floor.

“Sir! I must—”

“And I do not answer to the former future _bean chéile an rí._ Leave.”


	24. St. Florian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, 
> 
> Happy National Cheese Toast Day! If you've never done it before, put some apple slices on your cheese (preferably like a white cheddar perhaps) toast prior to putting it in the oven. YUM! Add a side salad and you have one of my favorite meals. And now, onto the chapter. Mild CW: brief discussion of (supernatural?) self-harm. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

_Bean chéile an rí._

The untranslated term hung in the air like a suffocating layer of poisonous smoke.

 _I should have understood that term immediately._ Adrenaline went to Rey’s head in a rush.

The duke, who was not much taller than Rey herself, wiped his hands on his tunic as he swiveled his worn out leather office chair around, stood, and circled her once to observe the strange human from all angles. Though he was likely quite handsome in his youth, years of stress and good food and drink aged him enormously. Even his pelt was tinged with a white hairs that stood out against the black spots.

“ _An bhfuil iontas ort_ , a Iníon Rey Johnson?”

“I—I should have a universal translator—”

“Bhris mé an geasa.” The duke went and sat back down in his chair. He crossed his legs at the knees and watched Rey stew in her palpable discomfort.

“I do not comprehend what you’re saying,” Rey said flatly.

“Tá a fhios agam.” The corners of his mouth threatened to turn up. “ _An dtuigeann tú aon rud a deirim ar chor ar bith_?”

“I do not understand the tongue in which you speak,” Rey reiterated her statement, but more firmly this time.

“You don’t know the only human language that Beircheart is fluent in?” Lúcás clicked his tongue and adjusted his skin around his shoulders. “Is mór an truaí é sin.” He swiveled back around to his desk and resumed writing. “Githany shouldn’t have brought you in here. Ní thugaim siamsaíocht riamh d’aíonna. Nor do I interfere with court matters. _Leave_.”

Rey bit her lip.

_Fuck it._

_If Klaud and Mansa know this man, I’ll appeal to his compassion. If he has any to spare._

“I do not know Irish _,_ but I will learn it after I take _Ben_ back with me if I must.”

Lúcás hesitated in his response with his black fountain pen hovering above the sheet of yellowed parchment he was scribbling away on. “Take him back?”

“To the United States. I will marry him.” Rey felt the hot flush rise up in her cheeks as she finally admitted those thoughts out loud, though her rational side was all but screaming at her to think critically. “Or, if he cannot live over there, I will move back to the UK and we will live there.”

“Hah.” He resumed his writing. “And just how do you expect to do that, Miss Johnson?”

Rey sunk back into her curtsey. “To start, I hope to find his pelt—”

“You do realize what you’re asking for? Desiring to _marry_ my nephew?”

“I do—”

“ _No_. No, you don’t.”

“It’s not my hormones—” Rey cut off her sentence as a flick from Lúcás’ pointer finger made her brain’s frontal lobe somehow begin to throb. With a cry of pain, Rey dug the heels of her palms into her temples and collapsed onto her knees. Dim and distorted scenes from her living reality and dreams danced in front of her golden-veiled eyes as if she was watching a blurry movie from a 35mm projector.

_The seal who’d she find out was actually a selkie flopping over on his stomach and chirping like a pup._

_Blood rushing down Ben’s chest after she pulled out the spear._

_The healing song._

_Comforting Ben under the stars on the dock in Doolin._

_The marks._

_Their accidental jellyfish marriage._

_The first mindless kiss._

_Mas’ lectures._

_Pulling off the scab._

_Ben’s rotting corpse upon the beach._

_Isecá’s smile._

Rey kneeled there helplessly and let Lúcás explore the deepest recesses of her mind. Whenever she tried to throw up some sort of mental wall against his influence, the pain got worse and her concentration would snap in two. He saw nearly everything of interest in her past: the burned wreckage of her parents’ car, the homes with the neglectful foster parents, the many sleepless nights full of teenaged panic attacks and the fear of loneliness and isolation right before the system would kick her out, her late adoption and the ensuing feelings that came with it…

After much too long, Lúcás stood and approached Rey. He pressed his warm hands over Rey’s. With a snap similar to the discharge of static electricity, the throbbing ceased as quickly as it begun. A cool intoxicating sensation replaced it. Rey stayed still as it spread from brain to her skull, travelled down her spinal cord, and dispersed through her cauda equina into her legs.

“I see. You may stand.” The duke laughed and shook his head in disbelief as he let go. “Níor mheabhlaigh sé mé.”

Rey squeezed her eyes shut, willing the room to stop spinning as she got to her feet.

_Don’t speak. It is better if he offers up information rather than I trying to extract it from him._

_You are correct,_ was his prodding and echoing reply.

“Miss Johnson.”

“Yes?”

“I will disclose to you precisely one…obstacle that I urge you to think about _very_ carefully. Do you _understand_ what terminating Ben’s lineage with the Cailleach would entail if you are successful in your plan? If you can somehow convince my _sister_ to give up her son right after he returned to her court?

Rey shook her head.

Lúcás let out a huff of annoyance and dropped the pen onto the parchment. He slowly turned around in his chair and faced Rey again, this time leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees.

“First, you’ll be taking him from an environment he knows and placing him into a world that he is a complete stranger to. He was able to hide by working low wage human jobs and hiding in the sea in Ireland, but if he is to permanently be among humans in the United States? He has no work skills, no citizenship, no identification, and no birth certificate.” He stood and ambled over to a side table next to a low overstuffed couch. He poured a bit of familiar rose-coloured liquid from a decanter into a crystal-cut glass waiting beside it. “I have spent less time in the human world than my sister has, but I can still tell you that he will be a significant financial and legal burden to you, especially in such a young country as that one.” He took a sip of his drink and walked back to his desk chair. “Second, body modification. Termination from the line of succession means that we will reduce his lifespan and render him infertile.”

“… _Pardon?”_

“The lifespan shouldn’t be an issue—he will simply live as long as humans do. He will grow old with you. That’s something you’d like, yes?”

“But, the infertility…”

“Ah, that’s a quick and painless procedure to perform. We can’t have the half-human children of disgraced royals trying to infiltrate our courts, can we?” As he sat back down, Lúcás gave a dry chuckle to Rey’s horrified expression. “Sterilization is our only option.”

“Why would you do something like that...?” Rey’s voice cracked in suppressed emotion as she trained her eyes on the floor.

“A simple solution for a complex dilemma.”

The color drained out of Rey’s face. Anger began to stir in her gut.

“No use arguing against it. Our rules also dictate that carrying an undesired selkie’s child is a good consequence for failing to fulfill your promised role in a _coup d'etat_.” The duke gave her a curious, inquisitive look that dangerously feigned innocence. Rey’s stomach dropped into her boots. “If my nephew is willing to give up his ability to bear offspring to be with you, will you deny him his decision?”

The desire to shrink away and run overwhelmed her, but the man’s cool blue eyes—so unlike the warm and kind hazel eyes of Ben—pierced through her and muddled her decision making faculties. She stood there like a dumbstruck rabbit.

With no response, Lúcás took a swig of his drink and crossed his ankles. “Finally, you must burn his skin. Disable his magic permanently.”

 _Burn…?_ Rey’s heartbeat picked up again in her throat, wrists, and temples.

“Doesn’t matter how you burn it. Soaking it in gasoline and setting it aflame with a match works just as well as a fireplace.”

“What? _No_ …”

“You must render him to as close to a human existence as possible.”

“I—I _refuse!_ That’s—”

“— _Then_ my nephew is not for you to wed.”

The unmistakable feeling of extreme nausea washed over Rey. “I’m better than the stories. I _won’t_ trap him on land.”

“Miss Johnson—”

“I will basically _flay_ him alive if I do that—”

“Miss—”

“It’s unethical, it’s _inhumane—_ ”

“Rey.” The sudden use of her first name in the same direct commanding tone as Ben’s shocked her into silence. “We, the _aos sí_ , are creatures made of ancient and unexplainable magic. We were formed from the earth, but we cannot return to dust like humankind can in their definite and permanent deaths. If…if it was as easy as transforming Beircheart into a human man, we would do it in a heartbeat. Gods, I would have done it myself fifteen years ago and saved my sister and my nephew from so much anguish.”

Rey looked to her hands, unsure of what to say.

“He—” The duke hesitated as if he wasn’t sure if he should continue his sentence. He sighed and downed the rest of his drink. “The prince tried to burn his skin three months after he joined my pod for training. Nearly killed himself in the attempt—we cannot directly harm ourselves, you see, without serious consequences. Make of it what you will, I suppose.” Lúcás stood and put his glass back on the side table before going to rummage through one of the bookshelves. “I will give you two minutes to give me a sensible response before I ask you again to leave my study. And that’s only because you returned that gaudy carding comb. Can barely stand to touch the thing because of the damn iron in it.”

Her mind reeled from trying to contextualize all of these revelations at once.

 _Selkie myths are all tragedies. The farmer’s selkie wife finds her hidden skin and takes the children back to sea. Or she saves her husband’s life and fishing vessel as a seal during a storm, only to never return home again as her consequence for intervention. Or…he steals away their child after seven years for not so much as a purse of gold. Did you ever expect anything different in your own rendition of the tale, Rey?_ Her own inner voice mocked her.

Rey fought back against her intrusive thoughts. _Ben…Ben is different._ _Maybe we can find a compromise and made this work._

“Sir.”

“Yes?”

“It won’t be perfect…but I’m still determined to get him back.” The words came out more like a squeak than a confident statement.

The duke peered up from the dusty tome in his hands with raised eyebrows. “ _Still_ persisting?”

“He doesn’t remember me,” Rey admitted, the taste of the admission bitter in her mouth. “But…if…if he will still have me, I will put in the work to be as best as a partner as I can to him.”

“Even if you have to burn his skin?”

“Even…if I have to burn his skin.”

Lúcás stood there for a moment, tapping his foot. With disgusted noise from his throat, he slammed the book shut between his hands and shoved it roughly and carelessly back on the shelf. “Fine. _Fine_. I will aid you. Just this _once_. _What_ did you come here for? Keep it short.”

“The crown prince’s skin,” Rey reiterated. “His fiancée challenged me to find it. I must return it to her.”

The duke walked over to his desk and pulled out a wooden chest from its side drawer. He took out a small silver key, unlocked it, and flipped open the lid. Rey’s heart gave a flop of overwhelming relief at the sight of its contents: a crumpled ball of fuzzy grey fur with black dapples. 

“Faigh ar ais uaim é.” The tone and hand gesture made the command obvious. Rey walked over and grabbed Ben’s skin from the chest. She threw it around herself and welcomed the sensation of its considerable weight on her shoulders in a bittersweet manner. Rey sunk into another modest curtsey as Lúcás looked at her with an unreadable expression and wide steely eyes.

“Beidh selkie ina selkie i gcónaí,” he finally uttered, returning to his seat and picking up his pen again. “Tabhair aire mhaith dó.”

Behind her, the door swung open with a loud bang against the wall behind it.

“I restored your translation enchantment. Go.”

Without another word, Rey ducked her head and left the duke’s study. After she shut the door behind her, she carefully navigated her way back to the hall with the kelpie fresco.


	25. St. Francis de Sales

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,
> 
> We are in uncertain times. If you are able to vote in the United States or have friends or loved ones who can, please vote and/or encourage others to do so. 
> 
> Also, this chapter got much darker than initially expected. A HUGE CW for the sexual assault of an unconscious person starting with the sentence "On the raised platform, the throne sat vacant." and ending with the sentence "Rey then snapped her attention back around to Isecá."
> 
> Thank you for reading,  
> Lady

With every servant imaginable traveling to and from the throne room like a bunch of ants devouring a piece of cake, navigation back there was tedious but not an impossible task. Though some hallways were covered in similar frescos with enough illustrated human gore and fantastic punishment to satisfy a sadistic art history student several lifetimes over, most of the halls were devoid of decoration besides a handwoven runner carpet with a simple Celtic knot-like pattern under her feet. She had to redirect herself a couple of times when she followed servants seemingly attending to tasks unrelated to the party, but she was quick to correct her mistakes and turn back.

As she got closer, she heard someone begin to play scales on a fiddle, followed by a few notes on a tin whistle in response amidst the muffled sounds of laughter and sex.

_I still have time._

Rey could have shouted for joy when she finally entered the grand hallway. She remembered walking down it to deliver the precious rose metheglin to the crown prince, an event which felt like several lifetimes ago now. She stopped and watched the servant she was following—a woman with a basket of delicious-looking pastries—open a well-concealed side door within the mortared stone wall. Before she shut it behind her, Rey briefly caught sight of writhing figures within. The noise contained within the room became clearer. The fiddle began to pick out a melody as part of the band’s warmup and the other instruments followed suit. With a sigh of anxiety-filled relief, she paused right outside to take some time to steady herself, nervously fiddling with her hair and smoothing wrinkles out of her navy dress.

Up until this point, this…quest to get Ben back was like a fairytale—at every corner, there was someone there to aid or guide her in some way, no matter how malevolent they had been. Now, no one seemed to be waiting for her to tell her what the next step was. Did she go back into the throne room? Or was Bebe, Damon, or Klaud going to appear and fill her in on that the plan was? Indecision weighed down on her head.

Ben’s pelt hung warm and heavy over her shoulders. On Ben, it stopped at his mid-calf, but Rey had to make a conscious effort to hitch it up and keep it from dragging along the ground. As she adjusted it, she looked around. Only servants with honeyed eye shine and glossy hair walked about, occasionally throwing inquisitive glances at her and the candle in her hand but otherwise leaving her alone. Leaning against the wall, Rey swore under her breath and rubbed her arm. In this hall, wind seemed to seep through the cracks in the mortar and whistle down the length of it. Rey was barely equipped with enough coverage to block it. She pulled the skin closer around herself with her free hand and cupped the candle’s flame in an attempt to warm her fingers.

Rey jumped to attention when she felt a tap on her shoulder. As she turned around, she recognized the same young servant girl who led her to the old duke’s room— _Githany, was it?_ —considering her curiously. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes seemed to shine a brighter gold than what Rey observed in the other servants, giving her almost a fevered look.

“My lady, you are about to miss the music! Come with me. I shall accompany you.” The girl opened the door and beckoned for Rey to enter before her.

“I—I cannot.”

“You must! You are a guest among my masters this week.”

“No, please—”

“My masters request your presence. Do hurry.”

With a push from the servant, Rey was ushered inside. The room’s appearance was the same, save for more servants running around delivering food. A band of five beings with instruments in their hands was also now on a raised platform of roots in the center of the room. The member on the fiddle—a dark featured man—looked like a grey selkie, complete with the unmistakable skin around his shoulders, but the rest, though humanoid in shape, were remarkably not human-like in appearance. Rey had no clue who or what they could be. She found her eyes drawn the fine downy feathers, bronze scales, and other strange features that adorned the musicians. It was almost enough to distract her from what she saw next.

On the raised platform, the throne sat vacant. Already on the edge, Rey panicked and scanned the room as her body decided to not let her breathe normally. To the right of the stage, a crowd of attendees had gathered. Rey made her way to the crowd and began to push through the mob. The folk were surprisingly docile (or high as hell), allowing her to pass through easily.

In the middle of the crowd, Ben, still naked and with the same metal bands still wrapped around his limbs, laid on one of the low flat pallet beds scattered around the room. His body was in a supine position with his arms slightly splayed and his head awkwardly angled to rest on the side, facing away from where Rey stood. His skin was weirdly cool-toned with an almost pale blue tinge and covered in the sheen of sweat. Pieces of hair stuck to the nape of his neck.

Isecá straddled his hips and gripped his thighs behind her while she grinded down, alternating from side to side and from front to back. Her muscular back also shone with sweat. She paid no attention to the prying eyes of several dozen onlookers watching her, instead switching to bouncing up and down on his shaft. Ben stayed limp under her. Rey’s fear got the best of her as she watching his chest rise and fall shallowly. 

“My lady!”

Isecá stayed focused on her movements and increased the intensity of her thrusts. She shifted her weight forward and pressed one hand into the middle of his chest for leverage. She palmed her breast with the other.

 _What if he can’t breathe?_ The beating of her heart was like a frightened moth caught in a spider’s web. Rey felt a hand roughly grip her shoulder as a warning or perhaps to still her, but she refused to look back at who it might be.

“Lady Isecá!” Rey reiterated, to no success. The band behind them began playing a seemingly familiar melody, but no one paid them any mind. The selkie shifted her movements one last time and with the visible tense and release of her leg muscles, reached a shaky and silent climax. She pushed her hair back from her face and leaned back to catch her breath, her chest heaving. After allowing some time to collect herself, Isecá slipped off of Ben and stood. A thin and tall awaiting fae offered her her skin, which she took without a word and wrapped it around herself.

The crowd began to disperse without a sound. Though his chest still rose and fell, Ben laid there motionless as he was left abandoned on the pallet. The hand on Rey’s shoulder relinquished its grip and disappeared into the crowd when she glanced over shoulder for the briefest second to see if she could spot who it belonged to. Rey then snapped her attention back around to Isecá.

“My lady—”

“I _acknowledge_ Ben’s skin. You completed my challenge in time—I grant you permission to stay with him in his rooms,” Isecá said distractedly and tonelessly, combing through a knot in her hair. “Just for tonight. You will leave by sunrise tomorrow morning or face dire consequences.”

“Ben—”

“—Your ‘Ben’ is _fine_. If you _must_ know, he consumed two silver apples from Emain Ablach despite my warnings. I will bring him up to his quarters when the festivities are over. You shall go up to his quarters and _not leave or communicate with a single one of the fair folk_ until then. Is that understood?”

“But—”

”Is that understood?” Isecá gave Rey an expression that was a seal’s warning snarl and a human sneer.

“Understood, but if—”

“Githany,” the selkie interrupted. “Please show Miss Nobody to his lordship’s chambers.”

“Yes, my lady.” The young servant grabbed Rey’s wrist that held the candle and led her back through the door that Ben carried her through and up the stairs.

***

Rey spent the next several hours in the same quarters that Ben brought her up into. She spent most of this time sitting on his bed trying to rest with her eyes closed or staring at the blue flame of the candle that was now proudly displayed in a candle holder on the fireplace’s mantle across from Ben’s bed. She got up a few times to do a bit of exploring, but found all of the doors except one to a primitive bathroom to be locked no matter how much she fiddled with the locks. Rey desperately wanted to access the strange beehive room again, but resolved that it must wait.

Rey carried Ben’s skin around her shoulders during her entire wait. It was warm, soft, and _vibrated_ with life and energy— _Ben’s_ energy. She felt her sense of borderline madness-inducing protectiveness for _her selkie_ come back with the fury of a thousand suns and warm her chest. It was her one lifeline from breaking down and crying hysterically in an intense panic attack. She found herself now and again pacing the bedroom, waiting for Ben to be standing there when she answered the door.

 _How do I tell him I’m required to burn this?_ The thought nearly made Rey weep.

Githany came by to check on her three times. The first time she brought Rey towels and offered to draw her a bath, a proposal which Rey rejected despite her secret wish to do nothing but soak in a big bathtub. The second time the servant girl brought her a tray of sandwiches and a personal tea set with smelly loose leaf tea that reminded Rey of rose hips and ripe gooseberries combined and something that resembled a burner.

_Never eat or drink of what nourishes the good folk._

_That_ was a rule that Rey would never forget to break. Even if the enchantment cast over her protected her from forceful consumption, she wasn’t about to test the limits of the spell with voluntary consumption. As such, the tray remained untouched despite Rey’s dropping blood sugar and growling stomach.

The third time, Githany came by with a tattered book. She looked more flushed and feverish than ever this time, leading Rey to genuinely begin to worry for the young girl.

“My lordship asked me to bring this novel to you.” She held out the book to Rey with a jerky automatic movement. Rey took it from her and turn it over to the front cover: an old, battered copy of _The King of Elfland's Daughter_ by Lord Dunsany. It was one of the first books she read as a part of her storytelling guild and seeing a copy of it was like seeing a dearly missed friend. Her spirits lightened just a touch.

“Who is your lordship, if I may ask?”

Githany blinked and gave an automatic smile. “He asked to conceal his identity, my lady.”

“Ah.”

“He also wanted me to relay to you that the festivities are drawing to a close within the next hour.”

“Hm.”

Githany bowed and left Rey alone once again.

Rey managed to get through three chapters before she heard a hasty knock on the door. She stood and ran over. Upon opening it, she was greeted by Isecá and Poe who were followed by two tall and muscular servants supporting a lifeless Ben upright. With some effort, they deposited Ben on the bed and left without a word. Rey sat on the edge of the bed and watched the two selkies exchange hushed words.

“Miss Nobody?” Poe spoke first and betrayed no acknowledgement of friendliness or good nature in his voice and body.

“Yes?”

“Your promise is binding. Is that understood?”

“Yes.” Rey knew the wording was intentionally vague, but she was too tired and directionless to ask for details.

“I will send someone to attend to you in the morning.”

“Understood.” Rey nodded and watched the two exchange a couple more hushed words before leaving the way back to the throne room.

Rey shut the door behind them and quietly turned her attention to Ben. They left him lying on his left side, arms curled up limply to his chest and legs flexed. Despite his size, he looked small and vulnerable and he had a peaceful expression on his face.

Rey went and sat beside him. She placed her fingertips under of his nostrils. She sighed in relief at the puffs of air she felt—still breathing.

“Hey, sweetheart. It’s me, R—I mean, Kira. I will stay here with you tonight.”

She grabbed his shoulder and shook him gently. Ben didn’t move. She shook him harder with no luck. As she drew her hand away, the sweaty sheen on his skin came away with it. It was moderately sticky to the touch.

“Ben…I need you to respond to me if you can.”

Rey opened one of his eyelids and observe that his pupil was rolled up into the back of his head. He was out of it, but by the way Isecá described the food-induced state, she hoped that it would be a temporary condition.

_I hope._

For the millionth time in the past several hours, Rey fought down the fear and anxiety that overwhelmed her current mental state.

“Ben…I am going to wipe you down with a towel. I hope that’s okay.”

Rey stood and gathered the towels and the personal teapot that Githany brought her. Dipping the smallest towel in the now warm water, she began wiping down his face before moving onto other parts of his body. When she attempted to remove one of the bands, she was greeted by a painful shock that felt like she scorched her fingers on a stove burner and yelped in pain. After that, did her best to clean around them. Rey talked Ben through the process just in case he could hear her, even if it was to change the towel she was using. It was a difficult task with such an amount of deadweight, but she managed to freshen him up at the expense of every single towel she could find in the room.

When done, Rey pulled the skin off of her shoulders and covered her selkie with it, pulling it up to under his chin. It was at this gesture that she got her first sign of life from Ben: he shifted one leg and exhaled loudly. Rey nearly cried at the sound.

Satisfied and suddenly very exhausted from such an intense day, Rey crawled beside Ben and mirrored his positioning on his side. She pulled him to her and hugged him to her chest as best she could.

When comfortable, Rey dumbly uttered, “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

With a moment of hesitation, Rey kissed him on his left cheek. Holding him tight, she finally dozed off uneasily to the sound of his deepening breaths.


	26. St. Eugene de Mazenod

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Happy October!! Tis officially ~spooky season~ and I couldn't be more excited. :D Have a lovely Saturday!
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Rey awoke to the smell of _seal_ and jerked herself upright, the events of the previous day flooding back to her in a mad rush.

“Rey.”

She wildly looked around to see Poe naked with his peppered hair dripping wet and wrapped up in his own tawny brown seal skin. He watched her with mildly amused curiosity from a richly carved oak chair with red velvety padding. From where he sat in the corner, he was partially illuminated by the early morning light shining through the windows.

“What do you want?” The words came out with more anger and vexation than what was probably wise, but with the memories coming back, the fierce feeling of protection she felt for Ben followed.

“Calm down, little ex-consort.” Poe chuckled and stood, only to begin stretching in front of her. “I can’t hurt you.”

“You’ve done _quite_ enough.”

“ _Ah_ …I cannot control the prince’s fiancée, if that is what you refer to. I wish her caretaker instructed Zora to take you elsewhere instead of into the throne room. Damn that old man.”

“Zora…? I don’t know the name,” Rey almost snapped, turning over to inspect Ben. He hadn’t moved much in his sleep under his skin, but the color was back in his face. She pressed one hand against his chest and with the other she held her fingers under his nose. She sighed in relief at his deep, healthy-sounding breaths.

“The court calls her Githany…I believe, now. She was…a former lover of mine.”

_Ugh._

“Say no more, please.”

Poe shrugged. “It happens.”

“ _Positively revolting_ ,” Rey muttered under her breath. “Please get to the point and tell me why you’re here.”

“I promised your púca that I would get you out of here on time. Brought your dress.” Poe indicated the foot of Ben’s bed. Rey peered over, and sure enough, the woolen dress was carefully folded there.

“…I can’t leave him. Not now, after what’s happened.”

“Like it or not, you shouldn’t be here for much longer.” Poe smiled knowingly as Rey pressed her closed fist against her growling stomach.

“I. can’t. leave. him.” Rey uttered again through gritted teeth.

“And you need to eat something that isn’t from my realm.” Poe stood and leaned over to shake the water out of his hair, squeezing the wet tendrils it through his fingers afterwards. “I also can’t have Isecá dragging you out to the ocean depths and drowning you this morning.” His voice hardened with that even, threatening tone that made Rey want to recoil.

“Could…could you promise me that he will be alive, unharmed and unaltered until I return?”

Poe cocked his head to the side like a thinking dog and responded in the same intonation. “No guarantees, Miss Johnson.”

“Please…” At this point, Rey felt like she had no more tears to give. She was so emotionally drained that she found it harder than usual to think straight in her newly-awakened state. “Just…try.”

Poe struggled to keep a straight face to Rey’s revulsion. “No guarantees.”

Rey hung her head and got off the bed. With an emboldened yank and blatant disregard for the Majordomo, she pulled off the sheer servant dress. She then grabbed the welcomed heather-grey dress, pulled it over her head, and smoothed down the front of it. It was a bit rumpled and covered in fine black cat hairs. Rey wondered if Bebe might have fallen asleep on it with a tired and drained amusement. 

Turning to Poe as she made an effort to comb out her tangled hair with her fingers, Rey said, “Leave me to say goodbye to Ben and I will meet you at the bottom of the stairs as soon as I can.”

Poe thought about the request before speaking. “Three minutes.”

“…Three minutes.” Rey responded in agreement.

Satisfied, Poe strode out of the room and left Rey alone.

Rey went to Ben’s side and kneeled at the edge of the bed. She reached for his free hand and intertwined their fingers together. His hand was so _big_ compared to hers, she marveled in a melancholic way. She leaned over and brushed strands of hair away from his face with her other hand. If Ben was faking his rest again or was otherwise somehow cognizant of what was happening, Rey had no way of telling. Instead, she studied his rather stern sleeping face, soaking up every mole, freckle and line that decorated it. When Rey was satisfied, she kissed the tops of his knuckles and pressed the top of his warm hand against her cheek.

“I'll come back for you, sweetheart. I promise."

Ben gave a great huff and turned to rest on his other side, facing away from Rey. Still, he didn’t let go of her hand.

***

Poe led Rey through many empty halls, back into the kitchens, and down to the wine cellar door from where she entered. They had to silently skirt around the short cook who assisted Rey in the kitchen, who, still in his uniform, now snored on his stomach in front of the kitchen hearth’s dying embers.

“I still don’t know exactly _what_ Banbhan Fisk is. He’s one of the oldest members of the court,” Poe whispered, cracking a grin to Rey that she returned with a stony expression.

Klaud, back in his rumpled middle-aged man form, waited for her at the bottom of the wine cellar’s stairs to the kitchen.

“Mo chara Meiriceánach.” Klaud gave her an exhausted smile—he looked as tired and hungover as a member of the fair folk in human disguise probably could be.

“Klaud.” Rey bounded down the stairs and threw her arms around the man. On top of the horrible hunger she felt gnawing at her belly, _exhaustion_ toppled over her like waves against the sand.

Klaud initially froze, but soon returned her hug with a good natured squeeze. “Can I carry you, my lady?”

Rey nodded into his shoulder. With permission in place, Klaud effortlessly scooped her up into a princess carry. “Time to get you out of here.”

“Await further instructions.” Poe interrupted, still standing at the top of the stairs. “We will be back in touch within two days.”

“Understood, fur seal.” Klaud answered for Rey, who was now starting to feel herself doze.

Poe gave a nod and shut the door behind him, leaving Klaud and Rey in total darkness.

“Rey.”

“Hm?” Rey shifted her head on his shoulder to get more comfortable.

_You brought me here. You can carry me out, dammit._

“Bebe went back early to prepare for your arrival. I will cast the same enchantment on you and we will be back in Inis Mór in five seconds. I promise.”

“Hm…” Rey nodded into Klaud’s shoulder and soon blacked out.

***

Rey came to with a head splitting migraine. Her dress was completely soaked and uncomfortably clung against her wet skin. Her hair, though she had remembered to remove the comb from the back of her head and set it on the mantelpiece beside the candle before leaving, was still miraculously half up. Her vision before her was blurry, similar to when she once put on her farsighted grandfather’s glasses as a joke. Fuzzy dark blue water and grey morning sky were the only definitive identifications she could make. In her hands, she grasped a thick cord of something that felt like soft worn leather. Under her legs, she felt the powerful muscles of the great beast that she was riding surging forward.

“Where—”

“Swimming home, dear.” The voice was strained with exercise.

“Ben… _Rose_ —what about _Rose_ —” Her words slurred and sloshed about in her mouth.

“Sleep.”

Exhaustion again and _something_ else hit Rey. Soon she saw nothing but speckled light against a black background.

***

The first thing that brought Rey back to the world of humans was a scream. A high-pitched, ear-piercing scream followed by a sob. A small hand clutched at her arm.

“Rose—”

“ _Fuck you_.” The angry voice of her best friend was unmistakable. The hand gripped her arm harder. It was obviously Rose’s.

“She’ll be fine—”

“Then _where was she?_ Huh? Can you tell me, Klaud?”

Rey made a valiant attempt to open her eyes, only for them to roll back into her head at an uncomfortable angle that felt like it somehow strained the backs of her eyeballs.

A pair of strong hands went cradle the back of her neck and support her back. She went from laying on her back to being propped halfway up and cradled against the chest of someone with a large gut.

 _Klaud?_

“She needs to eat something as soon as she can chew and swallow and then rest for a spell—”

“I’ll go prepare something in the kitchen.” Rey recognized the third voice as Mas. She listened to the caoineag’s footsteps and then the open and shut of a door.

Rose let go of her arm. “ _Don’t_ dodge my question, where was Rey? You…’people’… _come_ and… _destroy_ my worldview and now you try to take Rey _away from me? I—_ ”

“ _Mo mhuirnin_ , it will take a while for her to recuperate. It’s more difficult to travel from my world to yours for humans than the opposite way—”

“Rose, I’m sure—”

“Armitage Humphrey. Don’t interrupt me…she could have been killed…” Rey listened to a little sob catch in the back of Rose’s throat. She tried to continue, but her words stuck to the back of her throat and she couldn’t get them out.

“Rose…” Armitage started to say something but swallowed his words.

Rey listened to Rose’s muffled crying while everyone else stayed silent. She imagined Armitage pressing her into his chest and her clutching to the dorky plaid button-up that he liked so much with both hands.

_Speak._

Trying to verbalize _anything_ against the magical fatigue was like trying to move heavy boulder with a piece of twine. Doable, perhaps, but a near impossible task. She took several deep inhales and a dozen wishes for her voice box to work until Rey got one sound out: “… _owse_.”

_Close enough._

“Rey? Rey!” Rey felt Rose’s hand fly back to the same arm and all but pinch her loose skin.

“Mh?” Grunting was easier than speaking.

Rose peeled back Rey’s eyelid. Rey tried to focus on her blurry face but her pupils rolled up again.

“Oh my god, you’re conscious.” Rose choked back.

“Mm.”

They sat that way, with Klaud supporting her back and Rose hovering over her like a mother hen, for nearly an hour and a half as Rey regained control over her muscles and voice. When she was able to walk with assistance, they took her to Room 2B and tucked her in the large bed. Eventually, Mas brought toast, warm bacon, molded butter in the shape of walnuts, and homemade raspberry jam on a wide serving tray. Rey tore into the food and ate nearly three times her normal portions while listening to Klaud and Rose, voices still carrying a level of apprehension and unresolved emotions between them, try to lighten the mood with Klaud recalling a recent story about one of his bandmates. Rey’s sight gradually became less gold-hued and returned to normal, much to her relief. Bebe eventually joined the gathering, begrudgingly curled up at the foot of the bed, and pretended to rest while listening to the chatter and eventual recap that Rey gave…though she left out the intimate moments. And _that._ Rey’s sight blurred as she carefully modified the story to avoid as many details as possible.

Rose stole glances at Rey that Rey pretended not to notice when her eyes were focused elsewhere. Ones that expressed nothing but exasperation and worried concern as she fingered the makeshift iron nail pendant that rested against her throat. Mild self-hatred and self-directed disappointment gnawed at her gut no matter how much she filled it.

_Why didn’t I leave a note?_

Morning turned into afternoon which turned into the early evening with the sun low in the horizon. Klaud and Armitage said his goodbyes to the women of Cilronan Hostel as the golden hour streamed into the room. Mas bid her farewell to the girls soon afterwards, citing the need to help future guests schedule reservations for the spring. Soon, it was only Rose, Rey, and Bebe in Room 2B.

“Rose, I’m—”

Rose shook her head and came to sit on the edge of the bed. “Don’t.”

“But—”

“—No. Stop.” Rose laid down on the best and rested on her side to face Rey, her hands tucked under head like a pillow. “You better bring your Ben back so you never do this shit again. I want to go home as soon as possible so _you’re safe_ and _I_ don’t have to deal with this anymore.”

“…I hope I can.”

“It’s not a matter of hoping, you better just deliver.”

“I’ll try my best. I have one more shot.”

“Hm,” Rose sniffed and fiddled with the brass-colored buttons on her jacket sleeves. “He better be worth it.”

Rey gave a tired smile. “He will.”

“Good.”

“…Why was Armie here?”

“He knows about all of this stuff already. Especially about Ben.” Rose gave a little shrug.

“What?”

“Described himself as a ‘spy’ for a government agency. Wouldn’t tell me more than that.”

“Still human?”

“Yeah…made him swear to it.”

“Christ,” Rey rubbed her hand across her face. “This shit keeps getting more and more complicated.”

“…I know. Now we’re both involved in this shit.” Rose reached over and rubbed Rey’s shoulder. “But for now, you need to _forget about it._ You need to _sleep_.”

“Rose—”

“ _Nuh-uh_. Sleep.” Rose squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her lips into a thin line.

“…’Kay.”


	27. St. Benedict of Nursia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's nearly Halloween (YAY)! Stay safe, y'all! :)

The urge to _work out_ hit Rey the next morning over a fatty traditional Irish breakfast in the hostel’s kitchen. After forty-eight hours of no intentional exercise, she felt antsy and weirdly bloated, common symptoms of having skipped her typical routine.

“Mas?”

“Hm?” Mas absentmindedly broke the yolks on her two sunny-side up eggs with her ceramic spoon. 

“I want to go for a run.”

Mas dipped a slice of her soda bread into the runny yolks and took a bite of it before answering. “Only if you take Armitage with you.”

“… _Armitage?_ ” Rey gave an incredulous glance to Rose who sat across from her. Rose avoided her gaze and focused on pushing the grilled button mushrooms around on her plate with a fork.

“Yes, Armitage. Why?”

“A _human?_ I—”

“I’ll call for him, Mas,” Rose interrupted before the conversation could turn into an argument. She looked over at the hostel owner with a quick embarrassed expression.

“…Fine, then.” Rey shoved a forkful of egg into her mouth and then ran upstairs to change into her running gear.

***

As she secured her ponytail in place with a black elastic band, Rey was greeted with a tentative series of knocks at the door to her room. She stood and walked over to peer through the peephole in the door. Armie stood there in grey sweats, looking like he just rolled out of bed. Portions of his red hair at the crown of his head stood straight up in cowlicks.

Rey cracked the door open and peered outside with one skeptical eye.

“Hello,” Armie said awkwardly, shifting his weight from side to side. “Are you ready? Ah—” He rifled through his pants pockets and pulled out a strange choker. “Here, put this on before we continue.”

“Is your name really Armitage Humphrey?”

Armitage blinked and looked away, almost sheepishly.

“I’ll stay here and do strength exercises in my room if you don’t answer me,” Rey growled.

“Put on the necklace and I’ll answer your question.” He held it out for her to take.

Rey grunted, opened the door wider, leaned against it, and took the weirdly heavy choker from him. After securing it with a satisfying magnetic click at the nape of her neck, she crossed her arms and waited for an answer.

Armie shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted from side to side before answering. “…Hux. Armitage Hux.”

“Where’re you from, ‘Hux?’”

“Lincolnshire—that is, my family is. I grew up in Dublin.”

“And what are you doing here, posing as a local?”

“If you come with me, I will tell you.”

Armitage trailed behind Rey as she decided to go along the Cill Einne Looped Walk. He kept up with her with surprising athleticism, though he soon took off his jacket five minutes in and proceeded to thoroughly soak the front of his shirt with sweat. The wind had picked up in the thirty minutes that they were outside, and Rey soon began wishing that she had tied an extra lined jacket around her waist and that she could rip the necklace off her neck. It was a cold morning with grey clouds hanging heavy in the sky and threatening to drop rain on their heads. With a glance upward, Rey wondered if they were in for a terrible storm this afternoon as she listened to a playlist of calming movie soundtracks. With a glance backwards, Armie looked quite miserable in his sweaty clothes.

“Rey—walk with me,” He finally uttered through heavy breaths.

Rey, still feeling rather bitter and stubborn from this whole ordeal, gradually slowed to a walk and allowed Armie to walk beside her. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and under his chin with the back of his hand.

“Rey, can you turn off your phone and hand it over to me?” _Something_ in his voice changed that spooked her more than it probably should.

“Why should I?”

“We have something very important to discuss. Hurry if you can, I cannot keep you outside for much longer.”

_More bad news._

With skepticism combined with a heavy heart, she pulled out her wired earphones, disconnected them from the headphone jack, and pressed down on the power button until the screen went black. She then offered it to Armie with a flourish, who took it and checked to make sure it was completely off.

“Tell me of this pressing news, Mr. Hux.”

“Well, you see—I’m part of a classified government organization that deals with supernatural occurrences—yes, including activities of the fae courts that reside within the EU partially and in full.”

“Rose told me already.”

“I figured she would, but I wanted you to hear it directly from me as well.”

“So, not a waiter?” Rey asked with an edge of glittering dark humor.

“As of December, I’ve been monitoring Ben for eight years. The waitressing was part of that.” Armie responded with a touch of self-consciousness.

“I bet Rose was thrilled to hear that you have a substantial job. At least ‘allegedly,’ you do.”

“I was not supposed to develop feelings for people while undercover. I apologize for deceiving both of you in that respect, though there’s nothing I can do about it now that the truth is out and both of you are involved with my case by proxy.”

“So, what country are you with? Ireland? UK? US?”

“I can’t—”

“—France?”

“Rey, if I had the liberty to do so, I would tell you. But I cannot.”

Rey exhaled slowly and watched her puffs of hazy white condensation disappear in front of her. “So, honestly, why should I believe you? How do I not know that you’re making this up as we go along?”

“I have a long history with both Klaud and Mas. They wouldn’t have allowed me to get involved unless Ben was a significant risk to himself or others.” Armie rubbed at his beard with the palm of his hand. “Look—Rose told me everything she knew and Mas filled in the rest of the details. About you and him. If—if you are serious about bringing Ben to the human world, I—we can help you.”

“ _What?_ ”

“If Ben is exiled— _truly_ exiled and stripped of his royal title—and you agree, legally, to become his…I guess you could say ‘guardian’ of sorts—I can get you the papers you need. Birth certificate, passport, reference numbers, marriage license—no one will be the wiser.”

“What country?”

“Any one you prefer. If you decide to leave the United States, we can ensure that you are provided citizenship wherever you go. Granted, you will have to enter a sort of…witness protection if you do.”

“Why didn’t Mas tell me about this in the first place? That she has connections to some government employee could just _spirit_ passports out of thin air?”

“Because she _doesn’t_ know about this option, Rey. I brought you out here on false pretenses on her account.”

“What?”

“It’s because this is an absolute last resort for this kind of situation. We’ve only done it a handful of times in our agency’s existence. Less than ten, that’s for sure. The _only_ reason you’re receiving this option is because _I_ like you, because I _know_ Ben has the aptitude to mesh exceedingly well with humans, because he has nowhere else to turn to, and because I have the power to pull the strings.”

“If— _if_ I agree to _this…_ offer you give me, is there any way to get out of this without hurting him?” Rey’s throat was dry and she swallowed with difficulty.

“It’s a bit too late to turn back now, don’t you think? Klaud knows you promised the queen’s brother you’d do whatever it takes.”

“The…skin burning. I don’t want to do it.”

“Out of my control. Don’t make promises to fae, no matter how human they appear.”

“…I know.” Rey said quietly as she tightened her ponytail. “I don’t know how I’ll forgive myself for it.”

“Don’t think about it now. Wait until what you’re currently going through is over. But do think carefully over this once you have a moment to breathe. Talk to Ben about it, and everything else, as soon as you get the chance. Then get back to me when you do make your final decision.”

“I suppose I will. “

“Good. Don’t sit on it too long.”

“Despite everything that’s happened…you’ve given me the best news in a very long time...I appreciate it. Truly. Can I thank you without penalty?”

Armie’s face broke into a gentle half smile as he handed Rey’s phone back to her. “Of course. I’m a human after all.”

“Thank you.”

***

After they got safely back to the hostel without incident, Rey first showered and then spent the rest of the day resting on her bunk. It was unlike her to want to do nothing but lay around, especially during her downtime. Usually she kept herself too busy to do such a thing. But now, something down in her gut told her that it would be best if she forced herself not to think.

True to her prediction, the rain started up at 14:00 and drummed down upon the tin roof. Curled up under three hand sewn quilts provided by Mas, Rey tried to listen to a couple of her tried and true favorite albums. Then she went back to her young adult novel that had begun collecting dust on their bookshelf. When that failed, she napped for an hour or two, then turned on a recommended podcast before switching to a long languishing audiobook version of _War and Peace._ The Louise and Aylmer Maude translation, of course. No other translation compares, at least according to Jannah. She found herself messing around with the choker at her neck. Armie told her it was a gift—a specially formulated protection charm made with embedded bits of St. John’s Wort, red verbena and rowan berries within the beads. _A former silversmith with a Seely court who now works with me instructed an apprentice how to make it,_ he said.

When she couldn’t focus on Pierre’s antics for another minute, Rey returned to the seal videos. There was Ben as a large and awkward dappled seal on the beach on her screen, snoozing away on his back without a care in the world. Before all this mess. Even though it was only a little while ago in the grand scheme of things, the video felt like a complete lifetime ago for her now.

_No matter the outcome, I’m never going to be the same, am I?_

With a sigh, Rey put her phone back on the charger and rolled over to attempt to nap for a second time. After twenty minutes of restless dozing and listening to the rain come down even harder, Rey opened her eyes to see a drenched Rose in nothing but a college hoodie and plaid pajama pants bustling about the room.

“Rose?”

“Rey—you should probably come down. Dress first, then come down. For God’s sake, keep something protective on your person too.”

“Is everything okay?” Rey threw back the covers and swung her feet down onto the cool floor. Rose stayed silent as a bout of angry thunder sounded outside.

“Um, don’t panic, but we have a couple visitors.”

“Visitors?”

“Yes, visitors. Mas received them downstairs in the kitchen a few minutes ago.” Rose rung her hands as she searched high and low in the closet.

“Who?”

“Ben, a woman with weird teeth—”

_“That” fiancée._

“—and two men.” Rose tried to say it in a nonchalant way, but her voice broke with the effort.

_No. They’re too early. I’m not ready._

“Describe the men to me.”

“Uh, one is shorter with greying hair—”

_Damon._

“—and the other one taller and bald with a huge scar on his head like ‘this.’” Rose motioned to where the scar was located.

_Sloane._

Rey stood and pulled off her sweatpants.

“Have you seen my Aran sweater, by the by?” Rose asked in the same panicked tone.

“Laundry basket.”

“Oh, thank you—” Rose made a beeline and pulled it out from under several pairs of jeans. She gave it a couple of shakes by the shoulders before putting it on. “Mas told me to go get you and then go hide upstairs.” Rose gave a self-deprecating smile, but Rey noticed how badly her hands shook as she tried to button up the raw wool sweater.

“Understood, I’m going down.” Rey stripped off her lounging sweatpants and replaced them with a pair of dark denim jeans. She pulled her still-wet hair out of the messy bun she had it in and quickly tied it into a lopsided braid in front of the mirror. Rose’s eyes never left her.

“Rey?”

“Yeah?”

“Promise me—swear to me that you’ll be safe. That we will get off of this island and out of this country in one piece.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“ _Stop saying that._ ”

“I can’t promise anything more than that.”

Without warning, Rose rushed over and tackled Rey with a tight squeeze.

“Whoa! Hey.” Rey never knew Rose as a truly physically affectionate person. She could count the number of times they embraced during their entire friendship on two hands in contexts where they weren’t posing for photos. After Rose loosened her hug, she looked up to Rey with dark brown eyes glazed with tears.

“You will _come home_ with me, goddammit.”

“Rose…”

“I’m not losing you to Ireland _or_ fucking fairies.”

“You won’t if I have any say in the matter.”

“ _Fuck_ fairies.”

“Agreed. Fuck fairies.”

Soon Rey and Rose parted with a teary, wordless farewell. Rose went to hide in the laundry room closet. Armed with the choker around her neck, Rey went to face whatever awaited her in the kitchen.


	28. St. Maurice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> I have to expand by two chapters to fit in the rest of this story. We’re getting there though! :D Thank you for your patience. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

When she went to join the unexpected meeting with the fae downstairs, Rey found the door to the kitchen closed. She hesitated for a moment before leaning against it and pressing her ear to the wood. The voices inside were too muffled to make out full sentences, but they sounded formal and terse. Rey could practically feel the tension in the air.

“—My ward…!” Rey heard Mas loudly proclaim to her guests, though she wasn’t able to make out what followed. Without warning, the door swung inward and Rey stumbled forward to catch her bearings, nearly crashing into Mas who opened it. When her eyes met the hostel keeper’s, Rey saw nothing but frustration etched into the corner of her close-lipped hostess smile.

The four visitors sat at the dining table that was usually stashed away elsewhere in the hostel. Damon, the fiancée, and Sloane faced her and observed their second host with the bored and lazy expressions of apex predators aiming for easy prey. Ben stared through the window to the ocean, giving Rey only the sight of the back of his head. All four wouldn’t have looked out of place in a photograph from the early twentieth century. They were all dressed in lined brown pants, loose Guernsey sweaters and opened bridge coats. Rey was 95% sure that their clothes were transfigured skins as she recalled how Ben transformed his when he left for the court. Sloane held his pipe between his teeth, though it didn’t appear to be lit.

“Amusing…fighting over the girl. _This_ girl.” Rey involuntarily rose her eyebrows at Damon’s English. It was clipped and oddly accented with all of the vowels stuck in the back of his throat.

“Yes, yes. The human girl…for the prince. A…marriage. _Amusing._ ” Isecá’s English was just as unusual with her “th” placed in the middle of her mouth to make it sound like a pant.

Mas poked the bowl of a wooden spoon between Rey’s shoulder blades and guided her to the table. With unnecessary grace, she pulled the chair beside Ben out with her free hand and guided Rey by the shoulder to sit with the spoon. Rey used her peripheral vision to sneak a glance at Ben who was crammed into the chair beside her with his knees touching. She felt brief relief at seeing him awake and engaged, but her heart yearned for a familiar glance or small half-smile instead of half a face obscured from her by his hair. After she caught an emotionless exchange of looks between Sloane and Ben, Ben turned his back towards Rey and leaned on the table with his elbow and rested his head against his fist.

“So, Mansa…” Sloane rested his chin in one hand and held his pipe with the other. “ _Sorry_ for coming to this island again, but I assure you that my—our—intentions are good now. None of that…hunting business like last time. Give my regards to Klaud.”

“Gladly.” Mas went to pull a copper tea kettle off the stove and pulled a precarious stack of teacups meant for hostel guests from a cabinet. With a certain lightness, she circled the table while laying out cups and pouring hot water in them in front of each selkies. Mas continued forced pleasantries in Gaelic with the guests as she filled and distributed stainless steel loose leaf infusers among them. Rey sat there dumbly, determinedly staring at her teacup and forcing herself not to sneak glances at Ben or Poe. She noticed that all four guests blatantly ignored the steaming cups of tea in front of them. Rey took silent offense in Mas’ stead. Instead, the three that faced her kept stealing curious looks to the necklace around her neck. When conversation ebbed, Sloane brought attention to himself by clearing his throat.

“We will keep you two for no longer than we must. We must get back to our duties.”

Sloane nodded to Isecá, who fumbled about for something underneath her coat. She produced a rolled up hide of some variety with intact black hair on the exterior. The selkie unrolled it with a flourish and smoothed it down against the table, a cruel grin of seal teeth forming across her countenance as Rey’s face paled.

The inside of the hide was a soft white surface similar to vellum. Someone had inked simple sketch onto the hide—and Rey immediately recognized the royal blue image. Rose had shown her many photographs of it before.

“I presume, Miss, that this item is familiar to you.” Sloane said, a smile playing on his lips. “It should be easy for you to acquire, we hope.”

Rey steeled herself and gave herself permission to look into the faces of their three guests. “When do you expect me to return this object to you?”

“We will return tomorrow at noon to deliver you once again to the courts. The queen grants you her audience to formally present this…thing to her tomorrow afternoon. We do not want to be late, do we?”

“No, sir.”

“Good girl.” Sloane rose from his seat, with his other three companions following suite. “We will meet you at your observation point tomorrow, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Sloane made his exit the kitchen with Poe and Isecá trailing behind him. Ben, however, stayed frozen to his seat.

“My lord—”Mas began to speak but was interrupted by Ben slamming his hands on the table and standing abruptly. Rey flinched and shrunk away.

He turned and stared down at Rey with an unreadable expression. Rey felt gooseflesh form on her arms as she stared back at him. For a brief moment, he seemed like he was about to speak, but he quickly adjusted his coat and left the room.

Mas and Rey slack jawed stared at open doorway for less than a minute before Rey turned to clearing the still steaming mugs. As she poured the over-concentrated tea down the sink and began scrubbing the mugs clean with a yellow sponge and blue liquid dish soap, Mas stood with her back turned to Rey in silence.

“Rey.”

“Yes?”

“Follow him.”

“What?”

“Tell him what you have to say. I feel like you’ve left something…unspoken between you two.”

“But—”

“It is safe. Truly. Klaud and Bebe are spying on everyone’s activities at the moment.”

“Really?”

“Could I lie to you?” Mas asked incredulously.

Rey felt a sudden reckless urge overcome her, almost as strong as that night with the arrow. Without another word, she stood and broke into a sprint out of the kitchen.

As soon as Rey left the hostel without a stitch of raingear on, the rain bore down upon her. She ran into the road and looked both ways, hoping to see which way the selkies went as she rubbed her arms in a fruitless effort to stay warm. By a freak chance, _something_ told Rey to look to the sea. Rey shielded her eyes from the rain and peered out across the fields to the slippery seashore adjacent to the hostel. There unmistakably stood lanky and wide Ben, now with only his seal skin tightly wrapped around him. He stared out into the sea with his back to where Rey stood. His companions must have already headed out, for Rey saw none of them along the beach as she scanned the shoreline.

The waves lapped at his feet as he took several steps into the surf. Rey’s stomach flipped with sudden apprehension.

“My lord!” Rey cupped her hands and yelled against the noisy wind and rain. To her surprise, Ben stopped and turned in her direction.

“Wait! Stay there, if you may.” Rey made a beeline for _her_ selkie, precariously climbing over the farmer’s fences made of piled rocks and high-stepping through the dying and drenched high grass. By the time she reached the slippery rock-lined beach, her pants and top were thoroughly soaked by the rain. She shivered against the wind that became exceptionally nippier by the sea.

Ben finally turned to Rey with a mask of aristocratic refinement that she could tell barely confined whatever he was feeling underneath. His hair stuck to his cheeks and chin and it took all of Rey’s willpower to _not_ step forward and pull them away. At a slight loss of what to do, she averted her eyes and dropped into a half curtsey as best she could without a skirt to curtsey with.

When a palpable silence passed and Rey knew that Ben wouldn’t address her, Rey straightened up and looked back into his face. Ben’s jaw was clenched tightly and she now noticed that he stared at her with red-rimmed eyes that were glassy with unshed tears.

“Ben—my prince,” Rey hastily corrected herself. “Please continue having faith in me—I am working on your situation and I hope for a good outcome.”

Ben looked away into the open sea with a shuddering sigh.

Seeing as he made no protests to her speech, Rey continued. “If—if you can avoid it, please do not partake of any mind or body-altering foods or other substances before and during my next visit. Even…even if your betrothed—your rightfully betrothed—offers them to you. I need your cooperation when I return to your court with the item they so desire.”

Ben blinked and sighed again, embarrassedly wiping away at a tear that managed to escape on his cheek despite the rain concealing it well. Rey‘s eyes went to the glint of the gold band still on his arm.

“I sincerely look forward to seeing you again.” Rey got out, unsure of what else she could say to him. “May I see you off?—for posterity, I guess.”

Ben must have silently debated it for at least a minute before giving Rey a small nod. Without a second glance, Ben pulled his hood over his head and walked into the sea. Once he got up to his chest, he ducked under an incoming wave and disappeared into the dark waters without a single look back. Rey stood there for a little while longer to see if she could get a glance at the seal she loved, but soon determined that she was again alone and soaked to the bone on the rocky beach of Inishmore.

***

When Rey got back to her room, Rose greeted her with a fluffy blue towel. She took it with a quiet word of thanks, rested it on the back of her dining chair at the card table, and stripped down to nothing. Rose listlessly paced up and down the room as Rey dried herself. After some time passed, they tried to break the silence by addressing each other by name simultaneously. The bumbled beginning to their conversation caused an involuntary smirk on Rose’s part.

“Go ahead.” Rose said quietly, pulling up her chair to the card table. “But I think I know what you’re after.”

Rey’s heart dropped into her knees.

“The bronze artifact you found this summer—”

“Is the long-lost piece of some fae heirloom that Ben’s court wants back in exchange for his freedom,” Rose leaned back and began picking imaginary dirt out from underneath her fingernails. Rey recognized this habit—it was something that Rose did when she had to unconfidently confront someone about something she didn’t want to talk about.

“That’s more than I know.”

Rose shrugged and turned her hand over to inspect her thumb. “Klaud told me about it this morning when he had a hunch of how all this was going to play out. I—I don’t know what to say. On one hand, it is academically useless to the site I am studying. Imagine, _me_ , proclaiming that fairies actually exist at a conference. _Hah._ No one would take me seriously. My career would be over. If I hand it over to you and Klaud makes me a copy that is indistinguishable to human study, no one would be the wiser. However, _if_ I make this decision, I no longer feel like I hold myself up to the ethical standard that _I_ do currently. Even if I look at this as…repatriation or something, no one else _knows_ I made this decision, it didn’t _go_ through official channels, and I _can’t_ consult with anyone.”

“Does Armitage have anyone you could talk to?”

Rose rubbed her temples. “No one in the time crunch you’re under.”

Rey wrapped the towel around her and sat down across from Rose. “I know how much your professional aspirations mean to you…”

Rose shrugged again.

“But, just this once…please consider it.”

They sat there in silence for a while before Rose stood with a huff and went over to her dresser drawer. She pulled out a self-sealing polyethylene bag, examined the contents, and brought it back over to the table.

Rey picked up the bag. Inside was a beautiful semicircle of worked bronze broken at both ends but with delicate abstract engravings around the rim. In many ways, it reminded Rey of craftsmanship of the carding comb.

“Never thought I’d have the ethics of fucking grave robbing Indiana Jones on my trip to Ireland, but here I am I guess,” Rose grumbled.

“Thank you, Rose. Truly.” Rey felt tears threaten to spill for what felt like the millionth time in the last week.

“It’s what best friends do, right?”


	29. St. Gerard Majella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> It’s apparently National French Toast Day, but indulge in whatever breakfast food you want. It’s the FINAL COUNTDOWN to this fic too! I am sincerely excited to bring you all the ending. Thanks for sticking around.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Lady

Mas uncharacteristically directly fussed over Rey in the kitchen the next morning after breakfast, insisting on treating her hair with some secret hair product that smelled faintly of honey and sea spray at the table. After Rey’s hair was thoroughly soaked with the product, Rey let Mas put it up. When Mas was finished, Rey used the front camera of her phone to examine the hairstyle. It was an elegant crown braid without a single strand of hair out of place.

“It’s beautiful—”

“—When an orgy _isn’t_ going on in the court, all proper ladies wear their hair completely up. A matter of etiquette. _Don’t_ touch it.”

Rose took the day off from work and was following Rey around like a shadow in her pajama pants all morning. Now sitting beside Rey, she gave a small and tired smile in response to Mas’ warning.

“You ready?” Rose asked.

“Yeah, I guess?”

“Lile is a merciful woman, queen or no. If I were foolish enough to trust a member of a northern court, I would trust her,” Mas interrupted Rey’s and Rose’s exchange from where she washed her hands in the sink.

“Even after all this time?” Rose asked.

Mas hesitated with her hands under the running faucet and seemed to ponder over the thought. “Yes, even after all this time,” she turned the water off with a firm twist. “Though I cannot guarantee her decisions will be merciful by your standards.”

Rey bowed her head and studied her hands. “I guess there’s nothing we can do but wait. Though I—I should start packing—”

Mas adjusted her hair wrap in the silence before exhaling loudly. “No, stay here. Eat something else.”

“No, I’m _fine_.” Rey had absolutely no desire to eat at the moment with dread and anticipation weighting down her gut.

“ _No_ , you’ll be staying under… _there_ for more than 24 hours. You must eat _now._ ”

“Rey, I need to get some stuff from Armie. Do you want me to get you anything while I’m out?” Rose stood and moved to leave the room when Rey’s heart leapt to her throat.

“Wait—Rose—” Rey failed to keep the panic from her voice. Rose turned back and surveyed Rey with curious brown eyes.

“I will go.” Mas finished drying a set of mugs and began to put them away in the cabinet. “Rose, you need to stay _here._ I will see Armitage. What do you want, Rey?”

Rey wracked her brain. “Brown bread and that goat cheese that you got a while ago, Rose.”

“Goat cheese?”

“The ‘saint’ one.”

Rose’s eyebrows rose and she gave a small half smile. “St. Tola Ash Log?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“I’ll see if the store has any.” Mas went to her office in the corner and pulled out a black leather purse from a drawer in her desk.

“I’ll make sure to pay you back—”

Mas held up a hand, silencing Rey. “No, I will pay for this. You two, _don’t move._ ”

Rey nodded as Mas flashed eagle eyes over at the pair. Rose reluctantly sat down again beside Rey and they stayed silent until the door clicked close.

“So…” Rose broke the silence. “Are you _really_ ready?”

“I don’t know,” Rey groaned, resting her forehead upon the tabletop.

“Do you have any idea what’s next?”

“Not at all, unfortunately.”

Rose exhaled slowly through her gritted teeth. “Even hypothetically?”

“I present your bronze thing to the queen tomorrow afternoon.”

Rose exasperatedly rubbed her temples. “It _has_ to be more complicated than that.”

Rey sat back up. “The selkies will pick me up at noon and take me to the queen. That’s all I know.”

“Hah, right. For all I know, I’m sending you to your death.”

Rey shook her head as Poe’s threat crossed her mind. “I don’t think they’ll hurt me. At least, not physically.”

Rose went white as a sheet as she stared at her friend. Rey averted eye contact. If any human knew what a selkie’s punishment could be, it was Rose. “I—I don’t think it will get to that point, though. I hope.”

Rose reached out and grasped Rey’s hand but kept the unspoken words between them as nothing but concerned and unconvincing reassured looks.

***

Rey forced herself to consume a small apple, three slices of brown bread, two thirds of the cheese block Mas brought her, and half a sleeve of fig and almond crackers that Rose found at the very back of the shelf where departing hostel guests could leave behind dry goods.

“How are you feeling?” Rose asked half-heartedly from where she now sat across from her friend.

“Don’t offer me a wafer thin mint.”

Rose looked up from the book in her hand and gave her an acknowledging smirk from her reference, though her eyes still were full of nothing but worry.

Mas brought Rey a change of clothes and pack of “everything she would need, yes, including Rose’s artifact” wrapped in the same cheese cloth-like fabric she had wrapped the wool comb. She forbid Rey to open it until she was at court and before the queen.

After a goodbye with Rose that forced her to blink back tears and strict instructions from Mas that she _couldn’t wear shoes_ , Rey set out for the viewpoint with Klaud as the beautiful black workhorse by her side. To her surprise, he kneeled without a word as soon as they were out of view of the cottage.

“Well?” He asked in response to at her quiet indecision.

“Yes?”

“Get on. We will not make good time if we continue like this. I cannot imagine that this could be a comfortable walk without shoes on.”

With a bit of difficulty, she clambered onto his bare back and tried her best to get comfortable. As soon as she felt sturdy on his back, he stood and began to walk. Rey was surprised by how smooth his gait was underneath her. He quickened his pace into a brisk trot and Rey grabbed onto locks of his mane for support.

They made it to the viewpoint impressive time, though seals were yet to be found along the pebbly beach. Rey was about to dismount from Klaud on the sidewalk when he stopped her.

“I will jump over the barricade. Hold on.”

Before Rey had time to protest, Klaud broke into a gallop and cleared the fence. He _fell_ and Rey let out a scream when his hooves hit the rock below. When he stopped, Rey slid off of the horse with limbs of jelly and stumbled into a sitting position. The grey long sleeved and knee length knitted garment that she wore— _something_ without a historic reference she could find but looked the most akin to a romper—was made of wool or something very similar to it. It soaked up the water on the rocks underneath her.

_Wonderful. Just wonderful. A wet ass on top of everything else._

Klaud nudged her arm with his velvety nose. “ _Mo chara_ —are you well?”

Rey awkwardly patted his nose, unsure of whether one should actually pet a púca or not if presented the opportunity to. She cautiously got back onto her feet. “I’m okay.”

“Then we shall proceed.” Klaud stomped down on the beach with a forefoot and the ground underneath them started to tremor—the sensation was similar to the couple of a very low magnitude earthquakes at Rey had experienced as a teenager. It reverberated through the bare soles of her feet. He proceeded to say something horrible sounding in the ancient tongue and looked out into the waves.

They waited in silence until Rey detected faint moans and bellows in the waves, less than a half mile off offshore. After a stressful scan of the shoreline, Rey located three alternating seal heads periodically coming up for air. With an especially large wave, all three crashed into the surf and Rey felt all three pairs of eyes go to her and Klaud. She shivered, feeling vulnerable and exposed without any iron or charms to shield her from the influence of the fae.

The largest was unmistakably the seal that Rey first knew as “Bubba”—the old grey seal bull whose body was all but carved through with scars. _Sloane._ The second largest—another grey seal—was likely Isecá. Rey, however, had never seen the third before. They were smaller but stocky and dark brown in color. With its longer snout, long fins, and expressive eyes, Rey could identify the species: _Arctocephalus australis_. South American fur seal.

_Damon?_

Bubba lifted his head and let out a series of deep warbling roars. He then threw his head over to look at the seal Rey presumed to be the Majordomo, who proceed to laboriously scoot back into the waves and disappear. Moments later, Poe the man stumbled out of the sea, clutching his seal skin around his shoulders.

Only then did Klaud address the trio.

“Damon.”

“Klaud. Rey…. _hello_.”

“You shall return Rey, alive mind you, to me by the evening of the second day.”

“Will try.” A slight smile flickered in the corner of Poe’s mouth but he quickly tampered his expression down.

“Rey, hand.” Poe beckoned for her hand.

Rey extended her free hand and forced herself not to shiver as Poe’s fingertips brushed from her palm up to the inside of her elbow as he pulled back her sleeve. He reached within his seal skin and somehow pulled out a plain golden circlet.

_Like Ben’s—_

He opened its clasp and wrapped it around the middle of Rey’s forearm, closing it with a satisfying snap.

“Good girl,” he gurgled in his odd English. Rey’s blood grew cold as his hand slid back down to her wrist and wrapped his fingers around it. He looked back to the water and pulled her along into the waves.

Rey followed without resistance until they were up to her knees in the cold water.

_He’s going to kill me._

The thought hit her and her chest spasmed painfully as she looked around. The other two seals were nowhere to be seen and Klaud stood at attention behind them on the shore. Rey tried to stop in place, but she couldn’t force her legs to stop moving.

“Please _, no_ —“

“ _Come_.” The way Poe said it came with an unspoken warning.

_Don’t resist or you will not make it back to this island._

Rey couldn’t breathe deeply and took little short gasps instead.

_I’m going to have a panic attack._

She slipped on several stones underneath her feet once the water was up to her hips and Poe paused for the briefest moment to steady her.

_Not now, Rey. Not now. You’re almost done._

When the water was up to her ears, Rey took one final breath before ducking under the black wave before her. Underneath her feet, the ocean floor abruptly dropped off and left her kicking without the full use of either hand. Poe kept pulling her, swimming ahead with the finesse of an experienced freediver.

_I’m going to drown._

Salt stung at her eyes when she opened them underwater. She saw nothing but blurry darkness as she attempted to swim behind Poe with the use of her legs and half of the arm that held her parcel.

The bulk of a hefty shorthaired creature ran itself along her shin. Rey lost half of the air in her lungs with a muffled shriek.

_Seals._

Poe let go of her hand. Before Rey could make a haggard kick towards the surface, another seal pushed its warm snout against the crook of her shoulder and pushed her further downwards into the depths. The needle-like teeth of yet another delicately wrapped around her ankle and tugged her further down. The water’s pressure began to press down on Rey’s skull.

_They’re going to drown me._

In a millisecond, a particularly large seal took her head in his jaws and Rey lost the rest of her air in the sudden shock. If she could see, Rey would have been staring down its throat.

_I’m sorry, Rose._

Surprisingly, the seal didn’t bite down or apply any pressure. Instead, it exhaled warm bubbles into her face and let go.

_Breathe, girl._

The internal voice projecting directly into her brain was identical to how Lúcás spoke to her for the first time. Rey obeyed the order—and she breathed in oxygen and not water. Coughing violently, Rey used her now free hand to blindly feel around her face and head. What could only be explained as an accumulation of bubbles was gathered around her nose and mouth.

_Relax. We will take you to the queen._

Rey wasn’t sure how to explain what happened for the next several hours. Suspended in cold and heavy water, she existed in a sightless world. The seal with her ankle in its mouth never let go and pulled her along through the water. Occasionally, she would feel the warm nose of a seal push her along at the nape of her neck or along her shoulder. She felt like she was in a delirious state—not asleep or drugged, but fading in and out of consciousness without a concept of time passing. The only thing she could focus on was not dropping her parcel. That is, until she was violently shaken back to consciousness on a tiled floor.

“ _A bhean choir!_ ” Rey vaguely recognized the voice of a young woman and felt her repeatedly press down on the center of her palm. Her wet clothing clung uncomfortably to her skin and she felt nauseated.

“Don’t you realize you could have _killed her?_ ” The gravelly voice of an unknown older woman spoke. Rey, still blind, tried to pinpoint how far away the woman was by sound.

“Your highness, I was asked to _escort_ her to your courts. I accomplished what I was _asked_ to do.” 

“So you decided to drag her here as _seals_ with nothing but a breathing charm _?_ Despite what you may think about the situation, she’s not a _carcass_ , Sloane.” The woman made a disgusted noise. “You are suited for battlefields and battlefields _alone_.” 

The man didn’t respond.

“Get out of my _sight._ ” The woman spoke again, now with a steely edge in her voice. Rey listened to the sound of heavy footsteps retreating.

“Hal, help me please.”

Those were the last words she heard before the touch of four hands accompanied by the overwhelming warmth of a fire overcame her and sent her back to a state of dreamless unconsciousness.


	30. St. Luke the Evangelist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> It is December and I plan to finish this fic in January! :D I’m so excited. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

“Miss Johnson?”

The gentle pressure of velvety fingers against the side of her face and quiet, aimless humming were the first sensations that Rey noticed as she came to. Rey was lying on her back in a curious anatomically accurate supine position on some sort of hard, elevated platform. A soft object—presumably a pillow—cradled her head. The fingers left her face and firmly pressed down as a fist against her stomach in one fluid motion. Rey seized and was rolled over to her side by her companion. Rey retched over the side of the platform. Salty and thickened fluid came up. It left a metallic taste in Rey’s mouth, but the act of vomiting settled her stomach.

“Excellent,” a woman crooned as she rubbed Rey’s back. She had a distinct huskiness to her voice that Rey often associated with heavy smokers. “I wasn’t able to siphon out the embedded magic that we use as the court’s boundary protection like I usually do—but it appears like an old fashioned expulsion did the trick instead.” The woman wiped at the corners of Rey’s mouth with a piece of fabric. “If I’d known that Poe agreed to bring you back here in that manner, I would have put a stop to it.”

The woman pressed her open palm against Rey’s forehead. “You’re not as hot that you were a little while ago. Good. Hal—our physician—was able to counteract the worst of the curse resulting from your…extremely unorthodox entry to my realm.”

Rey gathered just enough strength to crack an eye open halfway. The warm yellow light of a lamp above her made her eye burn and made her vision blurry with tears. Her brain felt sluggish and foggy. She took a breath. The smell of ocean spray and black tea filled her lungs.

“Oh, hello! Are you planning to join me soon? ” The woman propped open Rey’s eye and gave her a small close-lipped smile from where she stood over Rey. She was a petite middle-aged woman with cool brown eyes. A silver circlet was woven into her crown of greying brown braids.

_Oh my god._

“Ben’s…mum?” Rey asked sluggishly.

That soft chin and mouth was an unmistakable trait shared by mother and son.

“I prefer the title of “Your Majesty,” but I suppose I can make an exception for my best friend’s ward and apparently my son’s beloved,” the woman chuckled. 

With strained vocal chords, Rey made a weird sound that was resembled a choked sob and groan of pain. She coughed again.

“While you’re looking much better than you were even two hours ago, Ben’ll be furious once he finds out what happened, I’m afraid. If I could, I would offer you some tea or warm broth to pep you up.”

Rey lolled her head over to look at the queen. “Where’s he…?”

“My brother took him on a hunting trip while you have my audience.”

“Why…?” The question escaped her lips before Rey could stop it.

Lile gave her a wide, toothy smile that made Rey’s stomach flip. More seal teeth instead of human teeth. “So we wouldn’t have any interruptions.”

“I see.”

“Come,” Lile helped Rey into a sitting position with her gentle hand supporting Rey’s back. Rey was lying on an elevated wooden bed of sorts. She was surrounded by a ludicrous amount of pillows which Lile hurriedly stuffed around her for support. Lile wore a set of robes very similar to the ones that her brother wore during Rey’s past visit. Her own silver pelt dappled with black splotches rested on her shoulders.

“Now that you’re awake and speaking—well, more or less—let us not waste any more time.”

The queen pressed her fingers to Rey’s forehead and whispered a phrase under her breath. A sudden jolt of energy flowed through her veins and cleared up the brain fog that she was experiencing. Rey let out a gasp and bolted up right. She ran her hands down her front—thankfully, she was still dressed in the same clothing, now completely dry.

Lile smiled knowingly. “I lack many of the skills my brother possesses, but the ability to influence physiological state of other being is a…family trait, as I am sure you are aware.” Lile’s eyes glittered for just a moment, almost too quickly for Rey to notice. The blood in Rey’s veins cooled.

_Not human._

“Let us proceed—first, please present this…object that my future daughter requested that you bring back to court,” Lile began, going to pull up a chair to sit beside the wooden bed.

Rey looked around her. To her immediate relief her package laid beside her, still wrapped up in its thin white cloth. She looked up and Lile gave her a nod of approval to continue. With clumsy and trembling fingers, Rey unwrapped the bronze object. She ran her hands over the wrought designs and held it out to Lile. Lile appraised it for a moment before reaching over and taking it from Rey.

“What is it...?”

“The missing portion of the drive wheel. From an important spinning wheel owned by the Cailleach. For the creation of…a particular type of fiber. Anyhow, it was smashed in the fourteenth century over some political disagreements and its pieces were scattered across the country. She’s been trying to piece it together ever since. She will be quite pleased that this was recovered.” Despite her generous words, Lile placed it carelessly on the bed’s side table.

_That’s it?_

Rey averted her eye contact as Lile crossed her legs and gave Rey a more appraising stare. “Now, let us talk about _why_ you came here.”

“For Ben,” Rey clarified timidly. She licked her chapped lips, feeling the undercurrent of her nerves threaten to surface and ruin everything.

Lile took a deep inhale and blew it out slowly before beginning what she had to say. “Before you say anything, I want to _thank_ you for saving my son’s life.” She cleared her throat and brushed away imaginary lint on her shoulder, clearly uncomfortable with the words of gratitude that just came out of her mouth. “I’ve listened to every non-human who has interacted with you since…you pulled out the arrow. I am aware of what you’ve done already. That being said, I want to give you the opportunity to start from the beginning and tell me everything.”

Rey obeyed without question. She told the queen everything she could remember, not sparing a single detail. Lile listened quietly, never asking for clarification.

When Rey finished, Lile sat in her chair quietly for several minutes before standing. Rey spent the silence studying the room around her. Like Ben’s room and Lúcás’ office, it was quite utilitarian and modest for a room belonging to royalty. The roof was slanted above them and the last rays of sunlight broke through the bay windows along the western wall.

Lile stood and went to grab a crystal decanter from a table across the room. She looked back at Rey and opened her mouth with an expression that suggested that she was about to offer some to her guest, but she furrowed her brow, swallowed her words, and poured a half glassful of rosy pink liquid. She knocked it back like a shot and grimaced as she poured a second half glassful and downed it as well.

“You’ve rose to meet the challenges that have been placed before you, Rey. As someone who also had to fight to get to where she is, I understand how much effort you’ve put into this endeavor—to free my son from his position in life. I truly do. However, I must assure that he is consenting to these future plans and arrangements with you. And that will require a test on his part. And that test will commence shortly.”

“Of what?

“If I could disclose it to you before it began I would,” Lile gave her an apologetic smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “But sadly I cannot.” Her eyes danced dangerously again and she set her glass down on an awaiting silver tray.

Lile retrieved out a brass serving bell from a nearby shelf and rang it seven times. She seemed to be listening for something for several moments before returning the bell to its shelf, seemingly satisfied that whatever she was expecting. Shortly after, a guard entered. A tall human-looking member of the fair folk with a thick neck and heavy brow.

With a newfound mask of royal carelessness, Lile looked up at the guard and spoke in her ancient tongue. The man nodded and walked over to where Rey was propped up on the platform. With gentle hands, he picked Rey up and held her in a princess carry. The leather and metal of his armor was cool against her skin.

“I hope to see you soon, Miss Johnson,” Lile gave her one last pitying look and turned away to look out the window.

“Wait—”

The man turned and walked out of the room and into the hall. Rey froze. The guard never looked at her, looking forever straight ahead. He walked down several flights of stairs and several halls with a stilted gait that made for a bumpy ride. The gold-kissed servants in their navy uniforms hustled about them, paying absolutely no attention to the woman in his arms. His grip around her knees was firm and bordered on being uncomfortable.

Rey recognized the hall that led to the kitchens. When they entered the kitchens, they found the small man— _Banbhan Fisk_ , _was it?_ —scurried about testing soups, throwing spices in bubbling cauldrons, and nibbling on odd coloured cheeses, unrecognizable fruit, and delicious-looking bread that servants presented before him.

The guard called out for the master of the kitchens who looked back and smiled widely. Rey could tell his relationship to the guard was warm and friendly as Fisk responded in that undecipherable tongue with an obvious phrase of endearment. They talked for a spell before Fisk produced a ring of keys. He led the guard past the door to the cellars and beyond a series of roasting pits. They came to a low wooden door with a knob and lock made smooth and worn from decades, if not centuries of handling. Fisk selected a small golden key and unlocked it. With a small flourish, he pushed the door aside and let the guard step through.

Rey watched as the man carrying her transformed before her very eyes. He _decayed_ rapidly. His skin became bloated. Holes of rot wore through his cheeks. White rice-sized maggots crawled out of his eyes and ears, but still he kept walking. Rey wanted to cry and scream, but the shock kept her from doing so. She watched as strips of skin on his upper arms sloughed off and fell on the ground behind him.

They walked along the rocky beach that looked similar to those of the Aran Islands, though Rey knew in her heart they weren’t on any of them. Wind whipped around them uncomfortably. When Rey tried to look backwards from whence they came, she found no doorframe standing among the stone waiting for their reentry. The guard walked away from the ocean and into a cave carved out of the high karst limestone cliff that lined the beach.

Water dripped from the cave’s ceiling onto Rey’s head, arms, shoulders, and thighs. The guard’s yellowed teeth were noticeable in the gloom now that most of the skin had been stripped away from his face. Rey stared at him with equal fascination and horror.

He stopped. Rey looked down. A pool of water, not much wider than her own height, spread out before his feet.

_A cenote?_

It wouldn’t make much geographic sense for such a sinkhole to be there, but it was the only thing that Rey could think of that would resemble what she saw. Without ceremony, the guard outstretched his arms and dumped her into the dark water.

Rey _sank_ like a stone. The pressure accumulated upon her head. She tried to kick up, but she never seemed to have upward momentum. Her lungs strained and she let out several bubbles.

 _Of course it’s a magical cenote,_ Rey thought in desperation.

She gave a start when fur rubbed against her thigh and then again against her cheek. A seal again put his jaws on her face and breathed out. Bubbles formed around her mouth and nose again. She coughed into the magical air pocket. She could only make out general outlines in the water as she looked around with blurred eyes. A shadow moved toward her.

_Rey._

A new voice this time was speaking directly into her brain. A familiar one, but the one she wanted.

_Lile left you for the prince to rescue you from my grasp? What a pathetic test._

The warm heft of a seal ran its body length along her back.

_Do you want to know what your fate is if the prince doesn’t come?_

The seal rubbed its cheek against the crook of her neck. Rey could feel his raised scars against her skin.

_I…select servants for the court. You will be recruited to join their ranks._

Rey panicked. She made an effort to begin kicking up towards the cenote opening again when she felt teeth around her ankle. The seal dragged her further down before letting go.

_You looked so lovely with your hair up like theirs. You will be a fine addition. When Poe decides to fulfill his promise, I will personally make sure you're assigned duties...appropriate to your state._

Rey aimed what she hoped would be considered an accidental kick to the seal’s side as it ran itself against the back of her thighs.

 _If you resist, I will_ kill _you._

Rey grew limp and let the seal wind around her legs. The water around her grew cooler.

Then she heard the primal roar, followed by a series of angry trills and whistles.

An animal _slammed_ against her thigh and knocked Sloane away from her. Another seal. Rey splayed her arms and legs out to ensure she wasn’t knocked against a submerged boulder until she came to a standstill.

A violent encounter followed, but Rey saw nothing but their vague outlines and heard the muffled underwater vocalizations. Eventually, she hugged her knees to her chest, squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe as little as possible. Soon a wretched drumming sound burst through the water and the seals became silent. Still she kept her eyes closed, all mental energy focused on her breathing.

She felt the water shift around her as the victorious seal swam curiously around her. A cool nose poked her cheek. The seal enveloped her, pressing his front against her knees and gingerly resting his flippers against her upper arms. The velvety fur gave away to a broad chest and large, pale, and very human hands.


	31. St. Marciana of Mauretania

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Happy almost CHRISTMASSSS!! So excited. If you celebrate it or another winter holiday, hope you have a lovely one despite everything going on.
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Rey adjusted her position by straightening her legs, wrapping her arms around his middle, and pulling him close. He took it as an opportunity to squeeze her tightly to himself and bury his face in the crook of her neck. They hung suspended in the cool water for what must have been thirty seconds, but what felt like several minutes. Rey hung there limply as her selkie treaded water in place.

Ben was _warm._ So, so warm.

As Rey allowed her fingers to lightly explore the broad expanse of his back and shoulders, she found that his seal skin was fused to the nape of his neck down to the area between his shoulder blades. Most of it otherwise flapped about freely around him. She felt worrying dents in his skin as well, but couldn’t see what they were.

Ben reached around behind his back and untangled her fingers. His fingers slid down to her forearms and he guided her to wrap her arms securely around his neck. Once he seemed satisfied with how securely she felt around him, he began to kick upwards with long, fluid strokes. Rey watched upwards as the bright opening above got closer and closer during their steady ascent. With one last strong kick, Ben and Rey broke to the surface of the water.

The mask of bubbles around Rey’s nose and mouth burst and she coughed loudly. Ben gasped and took a big gulp of air. With his chest heaving, he pushed Rey over the edge of the pool. She scrambled partially out on her hands and knees before clumsily collapsing onto her stomach, her ankles still hanging over the edge. With the grace of an Olympic swimmer, Ben pulled himself out of the water and inelegantly crawled over to Rey’s side, coming to rest on his stomach as well besides her. He awkwardly pulled his seal skin off of himself with a disgusting popping sound that Rey cringe.

Rey turned her head to face Ben. They stared at each other cautiously, eyes frantically darting about each other’s faces. Ben looked and smelled like a nightmare. At least eight rounded puncture wounds on his arms and shoulders—seal bites, undoubtedly—bled freely. He had a deep gash running down the middle of his forehead, across the bridge of his nose, and down to his jawline across his left cheek as if he had been slammed face first against jagged rocks. The sheen of water made the blood flow thinly and bright red across his pale face, arms and back. Rey reached out to touch him, but hesitated when he flinched away like a shy horse and averted his eyes.

“Ben,” Rey finally got out with a watery smile. Like she would do to a scared animal, she switched from offering her opened palm to offering the fronts of her relaxed fingers. Rey gathered the courage to touch him again, brushing her knuckles against his unmarred cheek. It was wet and silky to the touch. Ben’s soft hazel eyes flitted to her again, this time with an entirely different expression on his face. His breathing slowed and he didn’t shy away this time as Rey gently pulled bloodied pieces of hair away from the facial wound.

He licked his lips and cleared his throat before speaking. “You hurt, Rey?”

Rey scrunched up her face and her throat thickened before she could answer. “I’m not hurt.”

“Good,” he reached up and took her hand, interlocking his fingers between hers. “Glad.”

“You are though,” Rey responded. Her chest hurt. It was hard to breathe with the overwhelming emotions going through her body.

He shrugged with one shoulder. “You’re safe. It’s what matters…most important.”

“No, it doesn’t. Let me help you,” Rey propped herself up with her free elbow and attempted to unlock her fingers, but Ben held them between his with a firm fist.

“Can’t,” Ben responded bluntly. He gave her a depressing smile and resignedly pressed his injured cheek into the sandy cave floor, wincing as he did so.

“ _Don’t do that_ —”

“Broke two selkie rules. Can’t heal, even with help.”

“ _No_ —”

“— _One:_ likely murdered one of my own—“

“— _Ben—”_

“— _Two:_ saved you. Mo ghrá.”

“… _Please._ ”

“Can’t. Want to, but can’t.” Ben shifted his weight, causing the bite marks to ooze a darker red and trickle down his arms.

Rey made a move to get up, but Ben pressed their intertwined hands to the ground, limiting her movement.

“ _Stay._ Please?” The deep-chested command was followed by uncertainty. He gave her another look that betrayed nothing but fear. “Don’t leave.”

Rey hesitated before giving in. She moved over and laid back down on her stomach, closer this time so they touched shoulder to shoulder despite the blood. The woolen garment she wore was wet and clammy to her skin.

Ben studied her face and Rey’s eyes wandered down the torn flesh of his facial injury. She wanted to do nothing more than take his pain away.

“Memories come back at night,” he offered, as if Rey needed an explanation for everything that just happened. “Of you. And other things. Some good, mostly bad. Happy to remember most of it though. Asked Cailleach not to remove them, only move around.”

“I’m glad you remembered me,” she whispered as she wiped her running nose with her free hand. 

“Me too.”

Per Ben’s request, they laid on the gritty cave floor for a long while longer, but the blood didn’t _stop._ Rey watched as it kept slowly seeping out. The blood that gushed thinly from his facial wound created a small pool around his head that nearly touched her hair _._ Ben’s eyes became unfocused.

“Ben?”

“What does ‘mo ghrá’ mean?

“‘My love,’ I think,” he said without missing a beat. His voice was weak.

That triggered Rey’s tears and a sob tore from her throat. Ben blinked rapidly in response, trying to get a better view of her face.

“Do you want to leave here?” Rey kept crying during her line of questioning, feeling foolish and embarrassed all the while.

“Yes.”

“Everything that you know—your family, your status, your…identity, everything?”

“Yes. “

“You’re not doing this just for me or because you don’t feel like you have any other choice, are you?”

“Rey,” he said gently. “Not doing this for you. Promise.”

“Even if I have to destroy your skin?” Rey asked in a rush, dreading the answer.

“’Do it,” he answered, almost instantaneously. “Burn it. Cut it into strips. Stab it a spear gun. Don’t care.”

“…What if I don’t want to?”

Ben paused and picked through his muddled thoughts. “Rey.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t _want_ it. Hate it,” his words began to slur. “ _Never_ wanted it. _Please._ ”

“Ben…”

“ _Please_. Only thing I will ever ask of you.” Ben’s eyes fluttered shut, then open, then shut again. His grip began to slacken. Rey panicked.

“Ben, okay. I’ll do it if you stay awake. You _have_ to stay awake.”

Ben quirked a small smile in the corner of his mouth and gave a slight nod.

“Stay with me.”

Steadily, his hand went limp in hers.

“Ben? Ben?”

He didn’t respond. Rey stared at him with wide eyes.

“Stay with me!”

Nothing. Then she began to scream.

“Help!”

She got to her feet and ran out to the entrance of the cave.

“Help! Anyone! Please!”

She yelled out over the waves.

No answer.

She looked around desperately for _something_ living around her. There wasn’t even a seagull, puffin, or tern crying out on this beach. It struck her then just how cold and _dead_ their environment was. Except for the crashing of waves, the land was silent. She turned around and in the gloom of twilight, Rey could see a quickly gathering storm on the horizon.

“We’re here! Help! Ben is dying!” Rey doubled over with a keening wail and screamed again.

She ran back inside and kneeled beside him. Ben laid there with a deathly pallour under a veneer of thinned blood that kept flowing.

“Help!” She cried the word over and over again. Her sore throat protested, but she continued on.

The air around her began to vibrate. The scene around her flickered like an old television with cathode ray tubes losing signal. Rey and an unconscious Ben were plunged into scenery of white.

A figure stepped out from behind some sort of invisible barrier and stood before them. They were humanoid in shape, slim but strongly built and three or four heads taller than Rey. The being had to lean forward to prevent themselves from hitting the ceiling. The finely wrinkled face of a beautiful older woman looked back at red-faced Rey without a trace of human emotion. Upon their head set an enormous set of antlers—antlers of the extinct Irish elk. _Fiaghmore_ _._ Their antler points were capped in gold and they wore long exquisite robes made of a thin fabric tinted a very light blue. They wore their cool sea green hair in thick braids expertly tied around the bases of their antlers. They smelled strongly of fresh pine resin and damp earth.

Someone obviously important and decidedly _not_ a selkie stood before her. Rey felt shivers of fear, elation, and relief course through her simultaneously.

“Rey Johnson. Congratulations, you and the prince have passed the trials set before you both.”

“Who are you?” Rey asked, her voice quivering. She was past manners now.

“The Cailleach. I am she.”

“Fix him. Please, heal his wounds. I _beg_ of you.”

“Our traitor selkie?”

Rey nodded desperately.

The Cailleach strode forward and bent over to take a closer look at Ben. She reached out and tucked loose strands of his hair behind his ear.

“If I bind up his wounds, he will have to roam the ocean for seven more years before he can come to you.”

Rey sobbed again. “I don’t care if he comes to me or not. He’ll die if you don’t.”

“I know. You don’t have much of a choice in the matter, little one,” the Cailleach responded. She picked Ben up as if he were a sleeping child and cradled his body in her arms. His head lolled against her shoulder and he looked for once very small. The blood didn’t seem to faze the giant woman one bit. “Be happy that you belong to the world of man.”

She turned. With an ancient word, she caused a door-shaped hole in reality to appear. Inside was the room of stacked stone in Ben’s quarters, with many fair folk waiting at attention for the return of their prince and esteemed divine figure. The Cailleach stepped forward, paused, and looked over her shoulder at Rey.

“Well, aren’t you coming?”

Rey nodded, stood up on her wobbly legs, and went to grab Ben’s pelt. She wrapped it, still heavy and wet, around her shoulders and followed the woman through the portal.

***

The next several hours were a blur of healers assisting the Cailleach and servants coming in and out of Ben’s quarters. They paid no attention to Rey as she sat in the corner with Ben’s pelt and her copy of _The King of Elfland's Daughter_. After unsuccessfully trudging through the first ten pages of the book about eight times, she gave up and watched the activities bustling around her. They managed to successfully heal the bite wounds that Sloane had inflicted upon him, but Cailleach had trouble healing the gash across his face. A thin crooked scar remained, no matter what she did. They gave up after attempting at least two dozen variations of spells and incantations. A servant that Rey didn’t recognize covered the new scar with a pale lavender poultice.

Lile nor Lúcás made an appearance, but Damon showed up after about two hours to confirm the death of the Grey Lord of The Burren to the Cailleach. Servants shed silent tears, but the Cailleach made no comment. She nodded resignedly. Her primarily focus never waned from her task of saving Ben’s life. Her lips kept moving with silent words no matter what she did.

After three and a half hours, the flow of people trickled down and stopped entirely. Soon only Cailleach and Rey accompanied Ben in his quarters.

Finally, the Cailleach leaned back and stretched, seemingly satisfied with her work. She addressed Rey.

“He will wake in the morning." 

"Yes?" 

"I have counteracted the boundaries I put in place—he will remember you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“If you’d like, we can prepare another room, or you can sleep here alongside him. What would you prefer?”

Rey’s bones ached, now tired from the physical effort and stiff from the emotional strain. “I’ll stay here, if that’s okay.”

The Cailleach gave a curt nod and rose. “We will see you in the morning, then.”

“Yes, ma’am. See you then.”

The Cailleach left the room, leaving Ben and Rey alone together.

Without a word, Rey pulled Ben’s now dry pelt off her shoulders and folded it in neatly. She then stripped out of her clothing and underthings and got in bed. She never much enjoyed sleeping in the nude, but it was a better alternative than damp wool. Still wary of his healing state, Rey gently wrapped her hand around his fingertips and held them tenderly. She quickly fell asleep to the sound of heavy raindrops beginning on the rooftop overhead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Star Wars proxy for the Cailleach is The Daughter from Legends!


	32. Mary Magdalene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Ho, ho, ho! MERRY (BELATED) CHRISTMAS/Boxing Day (if you celebrate either)! Otherwise, hahaha, Happy Winter Season! It’s getting miserably cold where I’m from and I need new insulated pants! I hope you and your loved ones have a good New Years, and let’s hope that 2021 brings better things, including the end of this fic (two more chapters, for real I believe, this time). 
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Lady

Rey woke with a start and sat straight up in bed. The sheets were _too_ soft to be her sheets at her apartment back in Boston or in the hostel on Inishmore. And she was naked.

 _Where am I?_ The woozy thought repeated ad nauseam in her skull for the next minute and a half as her brain fog cleared. A cheery orange fire crackled in the fireplace in the bedroom. Early morning light shone grey and clouded through the windows.

_Ben._

Ben was not in bed with her. His seal skin was draped over a chair, not where she put it last night. 

_No._

Rey jumped up and was about to bolt for the stairs in the dry stacked stone room when one of the doors to her left lining the hall opened. Ben exited the room with a grey towel around his waist and black one in his hands.

As soon as he saw Rey, he stopped in his tracks and his face brightened into a huge, boyish grin. “Rey,” he said, following her name with a shaky breath.

Rey stared at him. His upper body were covered in the same scars that she’d become familiar with. The healed spear wound at his throat still stood out as pink against the paleness of his skin. He’d picked off the dried poutine that covered the facial wound since last night. The thin scar now marred his face. Rey shivered, thinking about how close he’d come to losing an eye.

“Hope servants didn’t wake you—can bathe myself after a morning swim,” Ben said, keeping his tone light as he toweled off his damp hair. “Surprising, I know.”

Rey sank to her knees and let out a wheezing sob. Ben grew alarmed and kneeled in front of her, dropping the towel in his hands.

“Is it the scar?”

Rey shook her head. “The scar makes you even hotter,” she blubbered foolishly.

He took her hands and rubbed small circles into the centers of both of her palms with both thumbs.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well,” Rey rolled her eyes and gave a self-deprecating smile through her tears of relief. She felt quite silly, with him in front of her looking as healthy as she’d ever seen him. “You’re alive. You’re not bleeding. And you didn’t call me ‘Kira’ or ‘Miss Nobody.’”

“I remember everything, promise. Not going to forget again,” Ben said solemnly. He pulled her down to his chest and gave himself the liberty to bring his fingers up to her hair. Just now remembering that her braided hair must look like a dreadful bird’s nest after yesterday’s ordeal, Rey began to self-consciously pull away. Ben’s hands stilled her. “Will fix it for you. You’re always taking care of me—not that I _don’t_ like it, but want to do the same to you.”

“You just want to see it down,” Rey hooked her chin over his shoulder and leaned the side of her head against his.

“That too,” he admitted with a laugh. His laughter buzzed against her chest and made her feel rather giddy inside.

His fingers were gentle against her scalp as he began pulling out all of the rubber bands. This _felt_ different than any of their previous interactions, besides the fact they were currently sitting together naked in the middle of the hall in his quarters. It was slow and unhurried, like they weren’t under a stressful time limit. Though that wasn’t true at all in the least. 

_“If I bind up his wounds, he will have to roam the ocean for seven more years before he can come to you.”_

Rey took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles to the best of her ability. If she only had this morning, she’d make the best of it. She’d have to tell him within the hour.

“You know,” he started to fill the silence, “court women here sew their braids in.”

“What? No way,” Rey responded. She felt drowsy and a bit intoxicated. Now freshly washed, Ben smelled _incredible_. He used something while washing up that wasn’t his normal scent—something that had notes of sweet citrus and old leather.

“Mhm,” Ben said as he—intentionally or not—brushed his cheek against hers. The touch was like electricity on Rey’s skin. “Like women during the Roman Empire.”

“How interesting. I bet Rose has told me that at some point,” Rey sighed.

“From experience…these,” Ben held up a black band he managed to free from her frizzled hair, “are easier to pull out than thread.”

“From experience?”

Ben’s ears and neck grew hot against her temple. “Yes, from experience.”

“I’m not surprised,” Rey said with her thick throat. She wiped her running nose with the back of her hand. 

“Glad you aren’t.”

Ben ran his fingers through her hair to work out the tangles.

“Rose is an archaeologist, yes?”

“Yep.”

“Knew a lot about the human history of this area when we talked.”

“You’d hope she would,” Rey laughed. “She sacrificed a lot of future security to. Why?”

“Would like to talk to her about her job. Have found about…um, nine unique shipwrecks off the coast of the mainland during my travels—want to know if they are new discoveries or not.”

“Rose isn’t a marine archaeologist, but I’m sure she’d be very intrigued. Now, how do you know about marine archaeology?”

“Reading. Lots of books about it.”

“Oh?”

“Despite what my uncle _thinks,_ ” Ben scoffed, “Am a fluent reader and writer in English. Including English books on archaeology. Only speaking needs work.”

“Your English isn’t that _bad_ though,” Red murmured, going to stroke the shell of his opposite ear.

“Conversational, maybe. Still not good.” Ben leaned against her touch.

“You’ll have plenty of time to work on it, I sure,” Rey replied in a confident tone she didn’t feel in her soul. “What’s unique about the shipwrecks you’ve found?”

“One’s a Viking ship. Maybe ninth century—looks like a famous one called the Gokstad ship found in a burial mound in Norway. Another is a packet ship—that one from around the eighteenth century.”

“Impressive.”

“Thank you.”

“Maybe we can go see that Gokstad ship someday.”

“Yes. Would love too.”

They sat in silence for a while. For Rey, the few conversations they’ve had like this mentally cemented how little they actually knew about each other, despite everything they’d been through in the past several months. Soon, he’d be back in the sea and she’d start her job. For seven years, it would be that way. Near strangers tied together by attraction, foolish decisions, and nearly unbreakable bonds. The thought made her chest hurt, but she willed herself to ignore it.

Rey shifted so she could wrap her arms around Ben’s neck and bury her face in his hair as he continued to work the tangles out lock by lock.

“Are you well?” Ben murmured as he finally finished his combing. His fingers slid down her spine before he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I’m surviving—I’m okay, I promise…Christ, you smell good,” Rey finally admitted, pressing her chest against his chest and shoulder. “If I could, I’d take you right here on the floor.”

“’Take me right here?’”

“Fuck you,” Rey gave a small laugh. “I want you so badly.”

“Have that effect on humans, I know. Strong hormones…and a little magic. Intoxication helps too.”

”Well, I can’t drink your alcohol.”

”I know.” Ben turned his head and pressed a lingering kiss against the side of her neck. Rey found his hands and pressed his palms to her breasts.

Ben gave a dry laugh in response. “I like a girl who knows what she wants.”

Rey sharply inhaled when he ran his thumbs across her nipples. His hands were so damn big. “How often do you act on the attraction?”

“Never have—all the way. But a lot of…‘foreplay’? Is that the right word?”

“Mhm, you’re correct.”

“Plenty of foreplay with women—some men too. Don’t have a preference, really.”

“Have you ever had a lover?”

Ben shook his head, but continued teasing her chest. Rey took light breaths, willing herself not to make a sound. She rarely felt _this_ comfortable with men while completely naked, but Ben was so, so much different. He watched her cautiously, like she was extremely fragile and precious. It made her want to bite down and then watch a beautiful red mark bloom on his scarred shoulder. 

“Only you. Rest have been…brief encounters—with humans. Other fair folk are different—plenty of sex. Can’t have children with them? By accident?” Ben made a face at the weird sentence. “So, ‘experienced,’ I guess.”

“I never doubted that, Ben,” Rey laughed and cradled his face in her hands. The look he gave her was a mix of disbelief, awe, and perhaps a bit of nervousness.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ben,” Rey said quietly. She straddled one of his legs and leaned in to brush her lips against his.

“Want that to be true,” he whispered against her lips. “But it won’t be. Want you too—but can’t. In that way.”

“You know?”

“Seven years,” Ben said with a small shrug and a sad smile. His hands wandered about her body and finally settled on her ass. 

“I’m sorry, Ben. I was so scared.”

“Rules cannot be broken,” he said in a resigned way. “I’m very sorry. For everything.”

“Shhh…let’s not think about it now, okay?”

“Okay.” He squeezed her ass and she couldn’t hold the moan down. Ben started as if he was mildly surprised as Rey kissed him fiercely in response and opened the kiss roughly. Her hands ran through frantically his hair. She grabbed a portion his hair close to the root and closed her fist around it. She took his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled, eliciting a contented hum from Ben. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. The beautiful flush was back and Rey was drunk on it.

“You make me want to go fucking feral,” Rey responded with a fresh sexual vigor she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“What?” Ben, red-cheeked and grinning from ear to ear. Rey kissed him deeply again before responding.

“Forget I said anything,” Rey muttered, though she was now too horny to care.

“Like oral?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Of course I do.”

“Want me to?”

“Yes! Please,” Rey gasped as Ben ran hands down and up the backs of her thighs, tantalizingly close to her center with his fingertips.

“Bed, then.”

“Right.”

Rey scrambled off of Ben and helped him up with a grunt.

“Gotta take the towel off though.”

Ben sighed theatrically and pulled off the towel from around his hips. “Happy?”

“You have no right to be this attractive.” Try as Rey might, she couldn’t find any fault with his body. She loved how strongly built he was.

Ben tried to fake disgruntlement as he folded it and tucked it under his arm, but Rey could easily see though his façade. He was loving this. Rey pulled him to her level for a quick peck and dragged him to the bed. She flopped down on the edge of it, scooted back, and opened her legs shamelessly.

“Get to it, by all means,” Rey smirked. 

Ben paused and just _looked_ at her, absolutely glowing. Rey gave a huff of impatience and began edging herself, rubbing small circles around her clit. He was just too fun to tease.

“Doing it, doing it,” Ben acquiesced. He crawled on the bed, locked his muscular arms around her thighs, and went to work.

Rey had no concerns about inexperience on Ben’s part, but she didn’t realize how quickly she’d become overwhelmed with how _skilled_ he was. She always enjoyed the sensation of being eaten out, but it never led her to any sort of climax. After hookups, she always had a vibrator on hand to finish up in the shower afterwards. Ben…Ben was completely different. He knew what to do immediately. Pressure deliciously pulled taught around her hips and accumulated. Right before she’d come crashing down, Ben would stop whatever he was doing and let the pressure settle down to a mid-simmer before beginning again. 

By the fourth time he repeated this pattern, Rey was about to scream.

“Ben, you’re not influencing me in any way, are you? No bullshit emotional manipulation.”

“I’m doing nothing,” he replied during his break in a lighthearted but cheeky tone.

“Swear to it?”

“Swear to it.”

“Then finish already,” she got out through gritted teeth. “You’re driving me crazy.”

“Hm…no,” When she tried to buck her hips, he kept her pinned to the bed and pressed kisses against the inside of her thighs.

“You giant _brat.”_

“True.”

“Please,” Rey whined, “let me come.”

Ben gave another dramatic sigh. “…Fine.”

Rey watch him this time as he pleasured her with slow, methodical movements. His eyes flitted up to hers, and the obvious flush returned much to Rey’s delight. The pressure built more steadily this time, until he pushed her over the edge. Rey cursed as her climax vibrated through her body in waves, leaving her feeling dazed.

“Good?”

“Good job,” Rey breathed as she rolled to her side. “Very good.”

Ben, seemingly satisfied, laid down beside her and watched her with cautious curiousness.

“No, really, that was fantastic.”

“Glad,” Ben purred. He cracked a toothy grin and pulled Rey to him. He pressed his forehead to hers.

“Your turn after I clean up?” Rey asked. She wasn’t fantastic at head, but she felt guilty for taking and not giving in return. She reached up and very lightly traced where the new scar ran down his check.

Ben thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“Am fine. Be…selfish,” Ben yawned. “Instead, tell a story. Talk. Sleep more. Just…stay.”

Rey’s stomach gave an angry growl and she doubled over in embarrassment.

Ben gave a chuckle. “Just a little while longer.”

“Gladly.”


	33. St. Erasmus of Formia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> The final chapter shall be the epilogue. Thank you for following this story over the past several months. Your enjoyment of it and engagement have brought me much joy over what has been quite a crazy and stressful period of all of our lives. Stay safe and well in this new year! 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

Rey and Ben spent the next several hours resting in each other’s arms. Rey couldn’t recall another time where she’d had as much skin to skin contact with another _person,_ let alone a big and bulky selkie who could almost completely envelope her into his arms. Rey permitted and welcomed the partial weight his leg caused pressed upon hers. It was a welcoming and calming sensation that Rey knew she’d quickly become addicted to if she wasn’t careful.

In most fantasy YA novels that Rey had read up to this point, the time of reprieve before facing the punishment of whatever befell a tragic romantic pairing was their time to fuck like rabbits while crying hysterically. Even in their quite limited capacity to indulge in as much sexual contact as possible, Rey found her sex drive to be fully satisfied from four rather exhausting orgasms. Instead, she listened to Ben give a halting explanation about selkie reproduction as they cuddled in bed. Between prolonged pauses where Rey and Ben mulled over biology terms that Rey hadn’t thought about since her sophomore year in college, Ben essentially explained that his sex drive aligned with the mating seasons of true hooded seals. He’d mentioned it in passing before, but Rey came to find that he was _adamant_ that she knew all of the details.

“So, from April to June, you’re unbearably horny?”

“Horny…?”

“Err, craving sex?”

“Ah—yes. Was worse when I was younger. Still quite terrible, though.”

“How often are we talking?”

“Three to five times a day?”

“ _That_ much?”

Ben nodded and looked away shyly.

Rey considered it for a moment. “I can keep up with that for three months.”

“You don’t have—”

“—No, I _can_ do that. Don’t underestimate me.” 

“Okay,” he finally acquiesced with a sigh. 

“The rest of the year though—how does that work?”

With some more hesitation, Ben proceeded to explain that he was always _happy_ to serve, but that his own sex drive was nearly nonexistent. Much to his apparent relief, this was something Rey could work with as well.

And so their conversation continued in this manner. Warm, frank, and honest conversation about what was ahead for them in the future. Ben rolled onto his stomach and much to Rey’s heartbreak, the same blotchy shape returned from Ben’s lower back to thigh. Ben was tied to her again, this time without reciprocation and for letting a human save his life though he never asked for it verbally. He told her that he was less panicked about the mark’s appearance this second time around. Infuriated Rey went on a tirade on his behalf about the ridiculous and illogical nature of selkie rules. She promised Ben that she’d speak to the Cailleach again and figure out the situation. Ben responded with a simple shake of the head and drawing her closer to him in a tight hug. He pressed a long, lingering kiss to her forehead and held her for a long time before speaking.

“You’ve bewitched me, body and soul—”

“Seducing me with a line from _Pride and Predjudice_ , eh?”

The response elicited from Ben a brief quirk at the corner of his mouth. “But it’s true. Tis the nature of my kind. Cursed or no, the first soul we focus on becomes our only steadfast love—and you’re mine.” A touch of panic came out of that last sentence, for he had to steel himself for a moment to continue. “If…if these next seven years pass and you move on, will not stop you. Not in the least _._ Even if you find someone else.”

“Ben—” Ben pressed his fingers against her lips in a gentle protest to not interrupt him.

“I _will_ limit your future happiness,” Ben murmured into her hair. “No children. Will always have to live near the sea. A broken selkie husband. Not a life you should choose for yourself.”

“Ben, I—”

“ _Live your life to the fullest._ _Please._ ”

“ _Ben._ Your uncle and I have been through all of this already. Would I have put up with all of this magical _bullshit_ if I didn’t already develop a…deep affection for you?”

Ben shook his head but remained quiet.

“I am happy to do many things for you. Granted, I wouldn’t give up my humanity, become immortal, or…anything crazy like that. I...I’d leave too many people behind,” Rey said as turned her head to look into his face, letting herself memorize every plane of it. “I can’t leave my grandfather. Wouldn’t be able to stand it.”

Everything else about her past came out in a rush. The abandonment, the trust issues, even the considerable therapy it’d taken to get to the point she was at now. Ben listened to her very seriously and absorbed every word she spoke. He only interrupted a couple of times when she had to explain a psychology phrase or word for him, which she tried to do in a less than spectacular fashion.

“Even then, I promise you the same thing that you promise me. You do not have to come to me after seven years. I will never stop you from obtaining personal happiness on _your own terms.”_ Rey took a deep breath before continuing. “But if you do decide to return to me, I will do whatever you ask. If the time comes…I will burn your seal skin.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ll do it if _that_ is what it takes for you to be happy.”

Ben said nothing, choosing to rest his head against her chest. He pressed his ear against her sternum and listened to her heartbeat.

“Also, Armitage can get you identification to any country you like.”

“Yes. Told me about it several years ago.”

“Oh?”

“Mhm. Knew…er, have known he wasn’t _just_ a bartender for a long time. Just didn’t have a sponsor then.”

Rey _felt_ his sudden mental exhaustion and noted how his body language betrayed his inner thoughts. In truth, she was just as exhausted. This felt like their _last_ time to really talk about things, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say anything more. It was too much and too messy to figure out on an empty stomach and after a horribly traumatic situation.

“I’m sure our…connections will aid us in communication during our seven years. We’ll plan accordingly,” she whispered, going to stroke his feather-soft hair. “We’ll figure it all out in due time.”

They dozed together for a little while longer, until a knock at the door from Zora woke them and sent Rey scrambling to preserve her modesty before she remembered how little the fair folk cared about such a foreign concept. They set about getting dressed. Rey pulled on her dry woolen garment that now smelled of clean lye soap and heather. She helped Ben transform his skin into the same historic sailor’s outfit that he wore during his last unexpected visit to the hostel. It was nice to see the enchanted clothing ripple over his frame without those awful metal bands in the way.

Ben _insisted_ on braiding Rey’s hair and pinning it up for their court visit and audience with the queen. Rey appreciated the gesture, as his hands calmed her down from her heightening nerves.

They were escorted down the halls by eight guards, including, Rey realized, the one that threw her into the pool. Courtesans lined the halls by the dozens to watch their crown prince and his human lover march to their fate. The many pairs of dead-looking eyes watched their every move. Sensing Rey’s unease, Ben reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers.

The queen sat upon the throne, conversing with Poe and Isecá on her left and Lúcás on her right. The Cailleach reclined on a velvety chaise next to the throne. To Rey’s immediate surprise, she saw Mas and Klaud in his elderly man form sitting on low stools directly adjacent to the elevated platform where the throne stood. Mas covered her hair with a beautiful silken scarf that Rey had never seen her wear before.

The Cailleach was the first to take notice of the prince’s entrance. She shifted to elegantly sit on the edge of the chaise with her legs crossed at the ankles. The court around them quieted as the tallest of the guards announced their presence. Poe and Isecá sat down cross-legged at the foot of the throne while Lúcás stood at attention by his sister’s side.

“Your Majesty,” The guard began. He waited until he had Lile’s attention before continuing his speech. “The crown prince, Lord Beircheart of Nilas, and his guest, Miss Rey Johnson of Boston, the current human ward of Mansa McKinley, the Protector of Oileáin Árann, seek your audience this afternoon.”

“What does my son seek from me?” Lile wore a stoic expression as she spoke, showing none of the warmth that Rey had seen just yesterday.

Ben interrupted in Irish. Gasps ran through the crowd.

“In English, please,” the queen said in a dry tone. 

“I renounce my title as prince.” He spoke in slowly and carefully to ensure the grammar was correct.

More hushed whispers and dirty glances came from the audience. Ben looked straight ahead with a rebellious look sparkling in his eyes.

“Seven years ago, the investigation into the death of Lord Hans of Cork led to your exile. Today, we seek more severe consequences for your actions that occurred last night. Will you deny that you murdered Sir Sloane, the Gray Lord of The Burren yesterday afternoon?”

“No. I killed Sloane.”

More hushed conversation echoed around them. The crowd went silent when Lile held up your hand.

“This morning, you were privately acquainted with the list of punishments we have agreed upon. Do you consent to those procedures being performed on you?”

“Yes.”

Rey looked up to Ben, who refused to meet her gaze.

“Then it is settled. Lord Beircheart of Nilas, you are hereby stripped of your royal title and birthright. You will no longer be recognized as a member of the Northern Unseely Court and will be unwelcomed in these halls. Your lifespan shall be cut in half to approximately eight-seven years. You shall never bear offspring. For your desire to wed this human mortal, you shall spend 2,554 days apart from her before you both shall be reunited. Her caretakers, Mas McKinley and Klaud O’Sullivan, will ensure that upon your reunion that your seal skin shall be burned and rendered unusable within forty-eight hours. Let it be known that what I have said today are the final consequences of your actions. Do you accept these terms?”

Ben squeezed Rey’s hand tightly. Rey squeezed back.

_I’m here. You can do this._

“Yes. I accept my terms.”

“Very well. Let it also be known that I name my Majordomo, Sir Poe Damon, and the Lady Isecá as my new successors to the throne upon my death.”

A roar of commotion filled the room. Courtesans lined up to congratulate the new heirs while others leered at Ben and Rey and began to surround them in a vaguely menacing way. The guards rallied around the two and quickly escorted them out of throne room.

Mas and Klaud followed after the party through the halls until they all entered what Rey recognized as Lúcás’ office. Two caskets made of unstained oak and lined with dried rushes laid open in the center of the room. Rey put Ben’s hand into a stranglehold. Guards lined the walls and Klaud ensured that the two doors in the room were locked before Mas addressed Rey.

“Now that that’s over with, we’ll take you back to the hostel in this,” Mas said nonchalantly, gesturing to the shorter of the two caskets. “Rose will be happy to see you in one piece. She insisted on making a late lunch for you, so that you’ll have a warm meal when you arrive.”

“Wait—that’s it?” Rey asked with a squeak. “I don’t get to say goodbye?”

“You had all morning to, didn’t you?” Mas asked, confusion apparent in her voice.

“Not in the way that I wanted to...”

“Well, make it quick. We don’t need an attempted assassination while we’re waiting around.”

“No privacy?”

“What do you think?” Mas asked, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Two minutes.”

With her face flushed, Rey turned to Ben and wrapped her arms around his neck. She drew him close and pressed her forehead against his.

“I guess this is our goodbye, then.”

“Not a ‘goodbye.’ Just a ‘see you soon.’”

“Still isn’t what I pictured.”

“Wanted to see me as a seal again?” Ben asked teasingly.

“It isn’t like I’ll have that many more opportunities to,” Rey joked back.

“Will greet you as a seal when we meet again. How’s that?”

“Okay, okay.”

“Will do it for you. No questions asked.”

“Thank you. Fuck, seven years is a long time.” Rey’s breath hitched in her throat. She felt tears in the corners of her eyes.

Ben wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and gave her a final, desperate kiss. Rey kissed him back with the same ferocity, tangling her fingers into his hair. They broke apart for the last time and Ben flashed her one of his boyish grins. Rey’s entire chest hurt.

“Mum didn’t mention that we couldn’t exchange letters during our time apart.”

“Write me often, then.”

“Will as often as I can.”

“Promise-promise?”

“Promise-promise.”

With a nod, Rey broke away from Ben reluctantly. She averted her eyes away from her selkie. If she looked at him one more time, she wouldn’t be able to leave.

“Are you ready?” Mas asked gently.

“Yup. Let’s get back to Inishmore.”


	34. Epilogue: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton S.C.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Happy National Penguin Day! We have finally reached the end of our selkie ballad. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> Best,  
> Lady

_Thus, Dun Aengus is one of the most important Bronze Age archaeological sites on the Aran Islands. It is absolutely worth the trip for history and archaeology enthusiasts alike._

Rose reread the last two sentences and knit her eyebrows in dissatisfaction at its wording. With a huge yawn, she resolved to look at it tomorrow morning and closed the Word document. Her committee chair at UCD asked her to write up a brief summary on her dearly beloved fort for some sort of tourism pamphlet. It was a task that Rose neglected due to her much more important duties.

With a groan of having sat in the same position for far too long, Rose turned off her desk lamp and got up from her creaky office chair to put on her house slippers. She switched off the overhead light before quietly opening and then closing the door behind her, moving from the shared office to the dimmed living room. Rose grinned. Armitage Hux-Tico fell asleep on their hideous paisley sofa after _insisting_ that he’d stay up until she finished her writing assignment. Millicent, their first “child” (read: cat), slept sprawled out at his feet. Paige, their second child (read: human), was curled up on his chest. Much to their mutual surprise, Paige inherited the exact same shade of Daddy’s bright red hair _and_ its untamable unruliness. Rose tried to braid it that morning, but all of Paige’s hair slipped out of the braided pigtails as soon as she got back from daycare that afternoon. It looked just as crazy as Armie’s now that his pomade lost its battle against the knitted throw pillow he used to prop up his head.

The Netflix “Are you still watching?” notification interrupted the prematurely ended daddy-daughter _Adventures of Baby Yoda_ marathon. Luckily, the remote was on the coffee table and not hidden in the couch cushions as it usually was. Rose grabbed it and turned off the television. She gave a noisy huff when she noticed that her messy three-year-old must’ve dropped her popcorn while nodding off. The plastic purple dinosaur bowl was overturned on the floor and buttery popcorn kernels were scattered everywhere. As Rose knelt between the coffee table and sofa to start picking up the popcorn, Armie awoke with a start, nearly jostling Paige in the process. Millicent cracked open an eye in irritation before rolling over and going back to sleep.

“Rose—”

Rose gently shushed him with a finger to his lips. When Armie was home for longer than an evening at a time, he was always so exhausted that Rose insisted that he sleep for as long as he could stomach it. Over the six years they’d been together, Rose realized that Armie felt like home with her was the only place that he was safe enough to allow himself to rest for more than thirty minutes at a time, though she knew he’d never admit it. It had only been after the birth of Paige that he began to sleep out in the open and not exclusively in their bedroom with the door locked.

“Sleep. I’ll take Paige to her room as soon as this is cleaned up.”

“Rose,” Armie repeated, removing her finger with one hand. With his other, he held Paige to his chest so she didn’t tumble off of him as he partially sat up against the sofa arm. “Tonight’s the night.”

“I know.” They’d been waiting for this night for seven years.

Armie studied Rose with an intensity that signaled to her that he was still in his “work mindset,” despite having sat through three episodes of _Adventures of Baby Yoda_ with a curious and opinionated toddler who loved to ask fifty questions per minute.

“I went over everything with Rey yesterday. She has all of the paperwork—she even printed out the plane tickets for tomorrow. In less than forty-eight hours from now, they’ll meet us at Thai Spice. Unless an orca eats Ben, _everything_ is in place.”

“Good,” Armie responded blankly. He wrapped both arms around Paige and looked down into his daughter’s face. His own softened. Rose’s heart squeezed. He was such a good dad, even though she knew how much it hurt him that he couldn’t be home as much as he wanted to due to the nature of his work.

He’d aged so much since those seven months in Inishmore, when Rose thought he was just some tour guide who bartended on the side. In the seven years since, he developed deeper frown lines and forehead wrinkles. His roots had just recently begun to fade to rose gold on his head. Despite all of this, Rose found him just as handsome as he was the first time she laid eyes on him.

“You should call her,” Armie continued as he looked at his wife again, this time with gentler eyes. “I’ll handle everything.”

Rose hesitated, wanting to _insist_ that her husband needed his beauty sleep. “Alright, I’ll do it now. You better stop worrying and get your ass in bed _right after._ ” She leaned over and gave him a soft lingering kiss before standing up.

“Look at it this way, Armie. Your assimilation of this selkie into human society is nearly over, and you’ve done a _great job._ ”

Armie gave Rose one of his rare breathtaking smiles in return for her praise. At times, she couldn’t believe that he accepted her dramatic, cheeky, and moderately-intoxicated marriage proposal outside of McCann’s four years ago. Phasma, Eiric, and Doph (who Rose quickly learned were also informed mysterious government agents) still gave Armie some good-natured shit for agreeing to marry Rose in such a manner during their biannual pub-crawls. 

Rose grabbed her trusty Aran sweater before heading out to make her call on their apartment balcony. Despite being in the middle of Irish winter, it was a surprisingly mild night with a clear night sky over the still noisy witching hour cityscape of Dublin. Leaning over the balcony, Rose selected Rey’s contact, pressed the call button, and waited for her best friend to pick up.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Rey sat on a tattered towel on an empty beach. She stared up at the bright night stars and vibrant full moon that shown down over Carolina Beach, when all of the sudden her phone began furiously vibrating against her stomach. She unzipped her rain jacket, pulled it out, saw Rose’s name, and answered it.

“H—hello?”

“Rey!” Rose’s voice was accompanied by the faint beeping of car horns and tires against pavement. Rey was sure Rose heard much louder waves crashing against the long sandy beach on her end.

“Rose, my love, it’s late! It’s almost midnight here.”

“Only five hours ahead of you, Rey. Not that big of a deal, especially on a night like tonight.”

“How are you?”

“I’m fine, despite being ridiculously busy. Committee wants a revised proposal by the end of the month. I still haven’t gotten some of the legal paperwork I need back yet.”

“Oh my god,” Rey laughed. “That sounds terrible. How’s the family?”

“Paige is good! She discovered the word ‘banana’ yesterday and thinks it’s _hilarious_ to use out of context.” Rey could hear Rose’s eye roll. “Armie is stressed and sleep-deprived, as always, but he seems to be in generally good spirits. I _wish_ he could take a week off of work.”

“And the cat?”

“Same as she always is—a grumpy daddy’s girl through and through.”

“Sounds like the Hux-Tico household is more or less in one piece, then.” Rey still couldn’t get over it. _Hux-Tico._ The fact that Rose was happily married _and_ had a little girl who was now walking and talking. It was thrilling and scary all at once.

“That it is. So…Rey, be honest with me. How are you feeling about all of this?”

“What do you think?” Rey had to laugh again.

“Nervous?”

“Scared out of my wits. Christ, Rose, I’m a complete mess. Ben should be here soon, I’m _sweating,_ and it’s only like thirty-five degrees out here.”

“…What’s that in Celsius?” Rose asked in a prompting manner.

“Oh, right—like, two-ish degrees?”

“Correct.”

“What’s scaring you?”

“I don’t know—everything, really?”

“Cold feet?”

“ _No!_ I’m really, really excited. Honestly.”

“Then why are you scared?”

“I don’t _know._ ” Rey pulled out her hairband in exasperation and ran her fingers through the knots. “Just…what if he regrets it after all this time? Like, what if the sex isn’t good? What if I can’t give him as much time as he deserves? What if my grandpa doesn’t like him in person? Like yeah, they’ve been talking regularly over the phone for a long time, but _still._ I already feel horrible for choosing to move away from the states for a _guy—_ ”

“—a good man that you’ve basically been in an open relationship with for _seven years._ I haven’t agreed to send thousands of letters between you two for nothing.”

“I _know_.” Rey looked down at her illuminated watch. It was nearly time.

“Both of you have explored and neither of you have found someone else that you want to be with. Hell, Ben turned down a proposal from that multimillionaire 'Riley' guy for _you._ Why are you thinking that Ben will suddenly change his mind after _that_ opportunity passed him by?”

“It’s just…it’s the fact that I haven’t been able to see photos of him or hear his voice in such a long time. I—I don’t even really remember what his voice _sounds_ like.” Verbalizing her fear made her voice thicken up with grief.

“As we’ve established time and time again, selkie rules are stupid and ridiculous but we don’t want to break them. It hurts that we’ve had to keep you all apart for so long in such an extreme manner. But…I saw him last week. Trust me, he looks and sounds basically the same as he did seven years ago. Only difference is that his English is better than it was when you last saw him.”

“ _I_ don’t look the same, though.”

“In what way?” Rose laughed incredulously. “You’ve gained, what, fifteen pounds? We all have a few more wrinkles. Don’t worry.”

“Rose—”

“Rey. My dearest friend. My closest confidante. The woman I chose as my daughter’s godmother. You could look like—like the shriveled fish grandmother from that chocolate selling _Spongebob_ episode. Ben Solo would still think you’re the sexiest mortal alive.”

“You think?” Rey wiped away a tear that leaked out of the corner of her eye.

“I _know._ At the very least, he won’t be trying to bite you this time. Hell, he’s been an underwater welder making a six-figure salary for four years now. He _knows_ how to believably play human. You two will be _fine._ ”

“Yeah, true.” It was a meek answer, but it was all that Rey had guts to say.

“…Well, I better let you go before I interrupt your long-awaited reunion. God, I’m so _pumped_ to see you both here on Wednesday. It’s crazy that you’ll be moving to the islands permanently—I can’t tell you how excited Mas and Klaud are to have you two nearby. They won’t stop calling me now that Armie’s figured out their cellular plans.”

“If…if everything works out, I’m really excited for it too.”

“Good night, love. Say hello to Ben for me.”

“’Night.” Rey ended the call and put the phone back in her jacket pocket. She focused her adjusted eyes back to scanning the shore for the sight of a silvery head popping up from the black water.

In truth, she’d miss the Outer Banks, which had been her home for the last two years. Instead of being short and pebbly, these beaches were miles long and made of fine white sand. Tall sand dunes covered in waving sea oats buffered the land against the constantly eroding tide here. This place was the habitat of sea turtles and horseshoe crabs, not seals and puffins. If she squinted, even now in the late night hours, the occasional opportunistic sandpiper ran up and down the shores alongside dozens of ghost crabs. Though the lands were different, the ocean was still the same. Dark waters capped by white frothy sea foam.

Rey closed her eyes and leaned back, taking in the night sounds. Just as she started to doze, Rey heard a low groan and the characteristic exhale of a large, heavy animal. She shot straight up and opened her eyes, looking around wildly. A giant beast with a dappled silver pelt inched his way onto the shore.

“Ben. Ben!” Rey got to her feet and ran over, stopping two meters away from the hooded seal. The seal cocked his head to look at the approaching human. A hazel eye stared back at Rey.

It really was him. Rey chest _throbbed_ with how excited she was to see him.

The seal let out a cheeping sound, and to Rey’s bewilderment, the pinkish balloon-like nasal membrane emerged from his left nostril and began to inflate. Rey clapped her hand over her mouth in astonishment as Ben bobbed his head up and down—exactly like how hooded seals performed a mating display on the National Geographic video she saw maybe a decade ago and re-watched on a monthly basis ever since.

Something overcame the seal then, because he very quickly deflated his hood and turned around to retreat back into the water.

“Ben—”

The seal swiveled his head around and let out a loud and commanding “hork.” Rey stopped in her tracks and watched the seal disappear under the waves. 

Rey counted each second that passed with an increasing sense of panic threatening to overwhelm her entire being. After one hundred and eighty seconds passed, Rey’s anxiety melted away at the sound of very human coughing and spluttering. Ben emerged from the water with his skin wrapped around his shoulders, just a few meters further away from where Rey stood. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Ben was the one to break the silence. 

“Rey.” Ben stifled a smile on his lips. His voice was just as alluring, deep, and rocky as Rey could recall. “That—that was embarrassing. I’m so sorry. I’m _not_ going to miss that—the inflated hood, I mean.”

Rey failed to keep the tears from coming. She walked a couple of steps towards Ben before breaking out in a run. She threw herself at him and he caught her accordingly. He pulled her close to his chest and held her delicately with shaking hands. Rey wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing the seal skin off of his shoulders and letting it fall into a pile on the ground behind him. His skin felt like velvet on her hands.

“Welcome back,” Rey managed through her tears. She looked into his face and studied every contour. He hadn’t aged a day, besides a couple of fine silver hairs that shined like starlight in his black and dandelion soft hair.

“Glad to be here.” 

“I—I brought your reading glasses. And a pair of sweatpants, briefs, a T-shirt, and an Aran sweater—for you to change into before someone looks out their window and thinks you’re doing a bit of midnight streaking.”

Despite his wet eyes, Ben broke into his brilliant boyish smile. How Rey had missed those pointed eyeteeth. “You remembered? The sweater, I mean.”

“I never forgot. Rose got me your current sizes, so everything should fit.”

“Gods, I love you.” The words slipped out unintentionally, for his face grew hot between Rey’s hands.

“I know.”

The urgent kiss that followed was one of the most satisfying touches that Rey ever would experience. It tasted of honey and sea spray on her lips.

Unlike many human spouses of selkie wives or husbands, Rey never once worried that she would spend her twilight years hobbling along the sea shore, hoping to once again meet her lost love after an unfortunate and tragic farewell. She looked upon his fair face almost single day for the rest of her life, forever grateful for that dreary September day when she met a strange but friendly seal on those misty Irish shores.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can follow me on [tumblr](https://ladyofboneandivory.tumblr.com/) if you’d like! Please stay tuned for my next story.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Love's own self](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24545707) by [Kitsfics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsfics/pseuds/Kitsfics)




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